Absolutely Nothing
by Ash-Snowflakes
Summary: Arranged marriage, as old fashioned as that sounds it still exists. It's a good thing I have my best friend with me during this crisis. The chances of me being the most hated girl in the school is well, 100%. The chances of Akashi Seijuro and I falling in love with each other is absolutely nothing. Akashi Seijuro x OC (Mikami Yukiko).
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** Who would have thought I would have to marry a complete stranger and I'm only 16. Not to mention my best friend doesn't really like him either and the fact that he has a horde of fan-club girls around him wherever he goes. I never liked my father but forcing me to love someone I barely know is starting to make me question what I actually mean to him. Is this for my sake, or the sake of himself, his company and his new girlfriend. Right now the chances of me being the most hated girl in the school is well, 100%. The chances of Akashi Seijuro and I falling in love with each other is absolutely nothing. Akashi Seijuro x OC (Mikami Yukiko)

Trying a new style of writing, we'll see how this goes. Sorry for any mistakes in Japanese and/or Japanese culture. Akashi Seijuro x OC.

* * *

I stretched my arms above my head. Being on a plane for 8 hrs really does something to you. I hit the hay as soon as I got to my bed. It's good to be in Japan.

Oops, almost forgot to introduce myself. Hello there, my name is Mikami Yukiko. First name Yukiko, last name Mikami for those who aren't Japanese. My friends just call me Yuki or Mi-chan. My actual last name is Anderson because I'm half American from my father's side but I decided to use my Japanese mothers maiden name, my father and I don't get along too well, he's pushy. I was born in Japan but my family decided to move to The US because there were more job options so I grew up there but we visited Japan from time to time. I'm around 5 ft 1", I know, pretty short for a 16 yr old girl but what can you do? I have waist length auburn hair which I braid. I'm a relatively shy person and I get nervous and embarrassed a lot. I play the cello and do tennis and I also started to play basketball, but I'm not very good at it, probably because I'm very shy and clumsy when I have to work with groups.

Let's see...what else...Oh!

My best friend is half British and half American. She's 16 too and she decided to come with me to Japan because she got bored of the scenery in America not to mention she learned the Japanese language. Her name is Arianna Sanders, she's the laid back kind, you know the ones who don't care about grades or school and just want to have fun but she loves sport and music. She also loves her food more specifically, junk food. It's amazing how she can stuff her face with so much fatty food and still stay thin. I envy the way her body digests food. Ari is around 5 ft 3" and she has shoulder length mocha hair which is always tied up, she also has these gorgeous green eyes. She knows how to play the piano and the violin and is really good at sports, especially basketball which is why I ended up spending my afternoon with her at some street ball courts.

Did I mention that we're in Tokyo or the fact that Ari and I rented an apartment and are living together? I guess not... Oh and the apartment isn't in Tokyo, we booked a hotel for a couple nights here.

Anyways...

Ari and I were at the street ball courts at around 4pm. We were only practicing our shooting because neither of us wanted to run. We had free time because school started next week. Anyways, Ari was going for a three-pointer when we heard a loud yell and a cry for help. It came from down the street near the park.

I looked at her and she just nodded, we grabbed our stuff and ran to the direction of the noise. At the time, neither of us had a plan, we just wanted to help. We arrived in time to see a big, tall muscled guy with a weird haircut punch the shorter man, or boy by the looks of it. There was a little girl who couldn't be more than 7 yrs old crying when another thug slapped her to try to shut her up. The little girl screamed again and the second thug raised his hand to hit her again.

His hand stopped short. I didn't even notice Ari move. She was now holding the second thug's fat wrist stopping him from hurting the girl.

"Go pick on someone your own size, bastard" she spat in perfect Japanese, then she viciously twisted the thug's wrist and kneed him in the stomach before spinning around into a left hook effectively disarming him.

I guess also I forgot to mention that Ari's also good at fighting, not the martial arts kind, the dirty street fighting, I suppose the fact that she used to take karate lessons helped too.

I rushed forward and took the girl into my arms, she hugged me and sobbed a little. I saw the guy with the weird haircut stop kicking the boy and starting to walk towards me.

I looked at Ari. Unlike her I didn't know how to fight, I took dance lessons instead of self-defence which made me pretty useless in these situations. My best friend gave me a slightly sadistic smile, "Don't worry Yuki, I got this guy"

Don't get me wrong, Ari doesn't like seeing people in pain, but if someone pissed her off too much or was extremely violent she wouldn't hesitate to break a few of their bones. Especially if people were hurting other people.

I heard the first thug crack his knuckles and I shivered slightly. It's okay, I thought, Ari can deal with him after a few deep breaths I stood up with the little girl in my arms, I edged away from the two and quickly ran to the boy on the ground. His nose was bleeding and there were a few cuts on his face. I put the girl down and started to shake the boy's shoulders.

"Excuse me, sir please get up." I didn't know why I was being so polite, I should be panicking and screaming at the top of my lungs but I wasn't and that was a good thing. "Sir, are you alright? Please get up."

The little girl joined in with helping me to get the boy to speak. "Nii-chan! Wake up Nii-chan!"

Nii-chan... that meant the boy was the little girl's older brother. I tried again, "Sir, please wake up." Nothing happened, now I was panicking. I faintly heard a 'crack' and I turned my attention towards the fight between the thug and my best friend.

Neither of them had moved. The sound I heard was from my friend cracking her knuckles.

"What are you staring at you big lump of fat, are you just gonna let a girl beat ya?" Ari teased, a feral grin settling over her features.

The thug's eyes flashed with rage and he charged at her. I gave a little squeak of terror, the thug was fast but Ari was faster. In one swift moment she had stepped aside and kicked the guy in the lower back causing him to stumble and at that speed he crashed into the park bench.

Ari dusted her hands, "That was easy" she commented, "How's the kid there and what about the girl?"

I looked towards the boy's body, his sister was shaking him desperately.

"The little girl's alright, there's a bruise on her cheek though but her brother isn't responding at all" I replied wincing as I heard my voice go several octaves higher, I was panicking.

"Call the ambulance, I'll go and see if there's anyone around that can help" she replied tossing me her phone. I barely caught it, my hands were shaking.

I dialled the number and I gave them the address and a brief summary of the situation. They said they'd be here in 5 minutes tops. I put the phone down and I turned to the little girl.

"It's okay, the police are on their way, everything will be fine" I said smiling as I reached out to pay her head.

She screamed.

I stood up quickly in surprise only to bump into something. I turned around and in front of me was the first thug that had crashed into the bench. My eyes widen, the little girl was trying to tell me the thug was behind me. Too late now, he had already raised his fist which was practically the size of my head. I was rooted to the spot in fear, my feet wouldn't move and as his fist came down the only thing I could do was shut my eyes, bring my hands over my head and wait for the impact.

It never came.

"It's rude to hit a lady."

Then I heard a rough grunt and then a smack. Slowly I opened my eyes and it my arms down. The thug was lying on the brick floor and a tall good-looking blonde was standing over him.

"Well that was close, are you alright miss?" the stranger asked, he had a smile on his face.

I could only manage a small nod.

"Yuki! Are you hurt?"

I turned to see my best friend running towards me behind her were several policemen and paramedics.

"I'm fine Ari" I said.

The police had asked us a few questions regarding why this happened but none of us knew, it was out the blue this thing. In the end the thugs were dragged away by the policemen and the boy and the little girl were ushered to the ambulance but not before the girl came up to me and thanked me. "Thank you so much Onee-san." she had said.

"Anytime" I replied with a smile.

They left and I was standing in the park with Ari and the blonde stranger.

"Who are you?" Ari rudely questioned, just noticing the blonde. Short and straight to the point was her style.

"Eh?! You don't know me?!" The blonde was taken back, "I'm Kise Ryouta!"

She blinked, "Sorry, not ringing any bells." Ari said plainly.

The blonde, Kise, fell onto his knees dramatically, "How could you not know one of the Generation of Miracles and handsome high school model Kise Ryouta?!" he exclaimed and I swear I saw a waterfall of tears running down his face.

"Because I just got here two days ago and I'm hungry." she said, her mind was already drifting away from the conversation when she thought of food.

I bowed to Kise and apologised, "I'm sorry, she gets like this a lot. Thank you for saving me."

Kise just grinned, "It's alright, I'm glad you're not hurt." He turned to Ari who was now talking to herself about which types of food she should eat. "Your friend reminds me of Aominecchi and Murasakibaracchi."

I looked at him. "Uh, they're friends of mine, sorry I was babbling." He said and flashed me a smile. "I know a good dessert shop around here, why don't we go together? It will help take your mind off things."

My best friend's green eyes lit up at the mention of dessert, "Yup, we're coming, lead the way Mr Miracle or something." Ari said cheerfully, she grabbed my arm and dragged me with her. I rolled my eyes and smiled. We grabbed our stuff and followed Kise.

I think he noticed the basketball Ari was holding because they started talking about it. I said a few things but I was mostly looking at my surroundings. I looked up at the sky and took a deep breath if fresh air. It was a scary afternoon, but it was fine, Tokyo's amazing scenery took my mind off what just happened.

"We're here!" Kise called out.

I looked at the shop he was standing in front of.

The sign read: 'Desserts and Bagels'

Sounds delicious, I never knew they had bagels in Japan.

* * *

Finished! *cue victory dance* No Akashi in this Chapter but he will be in the next, I promise. For now you'll have to deal with Kise's personality. Until next time.


	2. Chapter 2

Second chapter! Enjoy.

* * *

"Oh that's right I forgot to ask for your names" Kise smiled at Ari and I, "So what are they?"

The three of us were sitting in a booth near the back. Kise was on one side while Ari and I sat on the one opposite him. It was a nice place with its polished wooden floor and red velvet seats. The street view was great too.

"I'm Ari and that's Yuki." My friend said between mouthfuls of food, I sighed. _You have to give people in Japan your full name Ari._

"Sorry, she's from America." I said politely. Kise didn't seem to care.

"America? Really? That's amazing!"

I giggled, "My name is Mikami Yukiko, and her name is Arianna Sanders, just call her Ari she doesn't have a Japanese last name."

"Nice to meet you." Kise said brightly, I'm Kise Ryouta, I think I've told you before..."

Suddenly there was a crowd around us.

"Kise Ryouta?"

"You mean the famous model?"

"Yeah, that's him."

"Oh my god he looks better in person."

Whispers floated through the air and I think some of them were jealous.

"I'm guessing this is your fanclub, Kise." Ari said plainly.

Kise put his hands up and laughed awkwardly before he started to apologise, "Sorry sorry, I didn't think I'd be this popular."

Ari shrugged, "Eh, as long as I get to eat this food I'm happy." She replied and went back to chewing a waffle.

Kise put his hands down, "Well then Mikami-cchi, Ari-cchi, what Highschool are you going to?"

"Oh, we're going to Rakuzan. What about you?" I replied with a smile, I was trying to ignore the people surrounding us.

"Eh? You're going to Rakuzan?! Wait, Rakuzan is in Kyoto so why are you he-" He never finished.

"Oi, Kise, what the hell is happening?"

The three of us looked in the direction of the voice. About two metres away was a tall tanned guy with dark blue hair. He was wearing a grey hoodie and black track pants. The crowd parted for him, I guess that means he was either popular or scary. It was then I noticed the red-haired guy behind him. He was shorter then the hoodie guy but considerably tall compared to others.

The red head was wearing dark coloured pants, the type you wear to business meetings, he had a white dress shirt with a red tie that hung loosely from his neck and a matching dark coloured jacket which was draped over his left shoulder. I looked at his face, he had hetereochromic eyes. One was red like his hair, the other one was golden yellow.

They had reached our table and the blue haired guy slammed both his hands on the table.

"Do you even check your phone? We tried to call you a hundred times and we even texted you." he said said in an annoyed tone when he noticed me staring at him.

"What are you looking at girly?" he asked me. I flushed bright red, "Sorry" I murmured.

"Aomine-cchi! Don't be mean to Mikami-cchi." Kise said, "She was just curious."

Aomine-cchi? That must be one of the friends Kise mentioned earlier.

"Tch, is she your new girlfriend Kise?" he replied mockingly.

"No, I met her at the park. She was-"

"Will you two shut up? I'm trying to enjoy this bagel here and all you guys are doing is talking. If you wanna pick a fight go outside and beat the crap outta each other there!" Ari snapped.

There was complete and utter silence. I'm dead serious, no one spoke for a couple seconds.

I saw a flash of red and I heard Ari yelp. I looked at her.

She had moved towards me to avoid a pair of red scissors which were now buried into the cushioning of the seat where her head was moments ago.

"You're extremely loud, please refrain from yelling while inside it gives me a headache, peasant." It was the red head. He admonished her in a monotone voice, but it sounded commanding. Boy did she look pissed.

"What did you just call me?" Ari asked threateningly.

"I called you a peasant." He replied in the same tone and pulled the scissors out. He then turned to Kise. "Now, Ryouta meet me at the park tomorrow, I've already told the others, go with Daiki." He said gesturing to the blue-haired guy. The hetereochromic boy turned heel and walked off, but not before plucking a bagel off Ari's plate.

My best friend turned to Kise, "You have weird friends." She stated and went back to eating as if nothing happened.

Aomine clutched his sides and started laughing. "You got some nerve there, green-eyes, pissing Akashi off when you first meet him." he said the Ari. When he managed to stop laughing, he turned to the crowd and told them to get lost. Surprisingly, they moved away and the chatter started again.

Kise smiled, "Mikami-cchi, Ari-cchi, this is Aomine-cchi." he said pointing to the blue haired guy, "and the person from earlier was Akashi-cchi."

I nodded and the blue-haired guy, Aomine squinted his eyes at me, "You're actually pretty cute, ah what was it? Mikam-"

"Where is that hetereochromic, scissor-throwing, red-haired bastard?!" Ari yelled suddenly, "He stole my bagel!"

All the attention was back to us.

Ari was fuming. She was extremely...uh protective? I guess, of her food. At that moment, Kise thought it would be a great idea to hug her.

"Aw, you're so cute when your angry Ari-cchi!" He said wrapping his arms around her.

Uh oh.

"Kise-kun, don't hug her! She doesn't like-"

Ari punched him in the stomach and Kise fell to his knees clutching his waist.

"Hugs." I finished lamely.

Waterfalls of tears were running down his face, "Waah, Ari-cchi don't be so mean!"

I sighed, I knew those tears were fake and he was being over dramatic, in a way I found it hilarious but I was glad he wasn't seriously injured. Ari could be extremely violent over the tiniest of things. You know, like the fact someone took her food. She actually had to go get anger management lessons although they didn't do much.

I glanced at her. She had grabbed Aomine's collar and pulled him down until they were eye-to-eye. "Oi you, which park was that bastard heading to?"

"Hey! What the hell you brat?!" he yelped.

"Just answer the damned question dirt-for-brains!"

Aomine's eyes narrowed, "What was that green-eyes?" he asked dangerously.

Before Ari could speak again I pulled her away. "Sorry about this, it was nice meeting you Kise-kun and Aomine-kun!" I said as I dragged Ari away. I pulled her down the street towards the basketball courts we were at earlier. It was 6:48pm now.

Ari was still a bit peeved at the red haired guy but she took it out on the basketball. We probably should go buy another one soon. It was actually pretty comical the way she was acting. Just because the red head took the bagel. I admit I want to see him again, we didn't even talk but something makes me want to learn more about him. Not to mention Kise and Aoimine were extremely good looking too. I blushed as certain images popped up in my head.

Ari's voice cut through my train of thought, "Do you have a fever or something? Your face is red."

I shook my head at my best friend, It's nothing I'm just tired is all."

"Whatever you say Yuki." she replied and threw the basketball. It curved in the air and went through the basket with a swish. I smiled, Ari did love basketball.

About a half hour later we decided to head back to the hotel. Neither of us were hungry since we just ate a load of sugar so we took a shower, brushed our teeth and slept.

Well Ari slept, she collapsed into the bed after her shower and didn't even bother to cover herself in blankets so I did it for her. That's what friends are for after all.

I stayed awake for a long time just staring at the ceiling. Honestly, I was scared if those thugs from earlier would show up and murder me. Of course that would never happen but it's this imagination thing. I sighed as I recounted what happened today. At least it was exciting. As I drifted off into LaLa land I saw his hetereochromic eyes framed by that crimson hair. I've seen him before. Where, I have no idea.

* * *

I think Aomine was pretty OOC...How was that guys?


	3. Chapter 3

The next week passed in a blur and before I knew it the first day of the 2nd school term is here. I'm so nervous, I want to do well and make some friends here but I'm not exactly a social person.

I look at myself in the mirror. The girls uniform for Rakuzan is a white long-sleeved blouse accompanied with a black tie and a short black pleated skirt that went above the knees. I decided to wear bike shorts underneath. The tie was basically a strip of black cloth that you looped around to look like a tie. We also had to wear a dark grey jacket over the top of our blouse. The socks went to just below the knees and were black with two horizontal stripes of white at the top. We wore shoes like those Mary Jane types for school and they were also black.

Ari and I are starting 1st year and yes, we missed out on a term. It doesn't seem like a big deal but I guess we'll find out.

I grabbed my bag and shoved my phone in it then walked towards Ari's bedroom door. I raised my fist and tapped on the door. "Ari? Come on we have to go, school starts in 20 minutes."

Rakuzan High School was pretty much just around the corner but it wouldn't hurt to be a little early would it?

I knocked on her door again, "Ari? Are you in there?"

No reply. I sighed and slowly twisted the doorknob and stepped in. Her room was a mess. The few books she kept were scattered on the floor along with her clothes. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted the chocolate cake we had yesterday. It was on her desk, half-eaten. There was popcorn lying on her bed which she was _still _sleeping in.

"ARI!" I shrieked and for good measure I pulled her blanket off like they do in the cartoon."GET UP!"

I heard a muffled yelp, "Huh? What the? Oh it's you. Gimme five more minutes..." Ari said sleepily.

"What are you doing, get ready now or you'll be late!" I shouted.

"Who cares" Ari responded.

"I care! Please get up?" I half begged. "I'll make some cupcakes for you if you get to school on time."

Ari moved a little and faced me, "Chocolate icing with strawberries?"

I nodded, "Yup."

Seven minutes later we were out the door.

I tried, I honestly did but she wouldn't listen. I'm not sure how strict Rakuzan's uniform policy is but I think Ari's already going to get in trouble from the moment she walks in the school gates.

Ari had grabbed an apple for breakfast and was still eating it as she walked through the school's gate. Her sleeves of her blouse had been rolled up to her elbows and her tie was worn like a scarf. Her socks were pulled down to her ankles and the dark grey jacket was draped over her shoulder. The skirt she was wearing went down to her calves and I'm pretty sure it was the type that was reserved for people with religions. Even her hair was messy and it was only about 12 inches long, it couldn't be _that_ hard to keep control of. Not to mention she was also throwing and catching her school bag. The only thing that wasn't out of place were her shoes

I sighed as I walked behind her, I was sure a teacher or a student council member would call her out. _Wait for it... _

"What are you doing?"

_There it is..._

I looked at the person who talked and my eyes widened. _No way...he goes here?!_

Oh no, this wasn't going to be pretty. The person who had just talked was none other than Akashi. The same crimson-haired person who took Ari's bagel.

"I'm eating, what does it look like you bagel-stealing bastard." Ari responded glaring at the red-head. This turned quite a few heads considering we were standing in the courtyard where all the students gathered before school. We were once again the centre of attention, well mostly Ari.

"Did she just insult Akashi Seijuro?"

_Akashi Seijuro, so that's his name...I think Kise said it before..._

"I've never seen her before, maybe she's new."

"Yikes! She's got nerve but..."

"She's going to get in _soo_ much trouble and what's with her hair it's _soo ugly _and so is she."

That last comment was what struck me, I turned to see who said it. I saw a black haired girl with her skirt pulled up way too high surrounded by a bunch of people. They were all snickering and I had an urge to smack them. Even I would result to violence if someone insulted my friends.

"Ah yes I remember you, you were with Ryouta. However this has nothing to do with the fact you are violating the school dress code. I suggest you fix you clothes now and I will let you off with a warning." Akashi said calmly.

I turned back to the pair at the centre of attention.

"What the hell makes you think I give a damn about the school rules? Besides you violated an international law, throwing scissors at people who tell you to be quiet isn't very polite now is it." she replied with a smirk.

Akashi narrowed his eyes as the whispers from the students grew louder. I had a bad feeling about this. I didn't realise it earlier but Akashi Seijuro is the sole heir to a multi-million dollar industry. His parents were very powerful people. I quickly reached out and grabbed Ari's arm. As interesting as Akashi was, I didn't think this would be the best way to meet him.

"Ari, drop it you'll get in trouble." I whispered. Then I turned to the hetereochromic red head and I suddenly found myself feeling very scared. I don't know why but something about the way he carried himself made me feel inferior. I took a deep breath to calm myself and surprisingly it worked. "I'm sorry for the trouble Akashi-kun, she's not feeling well today." With that I dragged my friend away in some random direction.

"Hey! I feel perfectly fine, why are you-" I cut her off by giving her arm a harsh tug, "Ow! Yuki! Slow down a bit."

When I successfully pulled her into a quiet part of school she tugged her arm away and raised an eyebrow. Sighing, I elaborated; "That was Akashi Seijuro and he's the son of an extremely powerful man so I don't think picking a fight with him is the best idea..." I trailed off when I heard the bell. "We have to go to class now, promise me you won't punch anyone? No loopholes and you know what I mean anyways so please? It's the first day, you should stay out of trouble or your teachers will hate you." I gave her puppy dog eyes for added effect.

Ari looked at me for a few moments then groaned, "Fine, this is for those cupcakes you're making me." she said grudgingly.

I sighed in relief. We weren't in the same class for the first period so we parted ways. School hasn't even started and already so many things have happened. As I approached my classroom I took another deep breath and closed my eyes to for a second to calm my nerves only to bump into something.

My eyes flew open and I stumbled back slightly.

"Be a little more aware of your surroundings, Mikami Yukiko." Akashi said quietly.

I stared at him as he walked into class 1-A. My class and wait, how does he know my name? I frowned as I thought it over. Nope, my name hasn't been mentioned at all, at least not my full name. I shook my head and took another deep breath then I walked into the classroom. The teacher was already there and hastily told everyone to sit down. I picked a spot at the back next to a window. The teacher was going through the roll.

I placed my things on the floor and proceeded to stare out the window. It looked liked it was going to rain today what with all the grey clouds hanging overhead. I continued observing the world outside until I heard my name. I turned my attention to the teacher and raised my hand.

"Here." I said.

Nearly everyone turned to look at the new girl, a.k.a me. The teacher looked at me and blinked before regaining his composure, "Right class, this is Mikami Yukiko she is starting this term, treat her well. Also someone will need to show her around during lunch."

The teacher glanced around. Everyone tried to make themselves seem smaller. No one wanted to be the lucky person who gets to waste their lunchtime.

"Ah, Akashi. Considering you're on the student council, would mind showing Mikami around?."

I twitched slightly. Out of all the people it had to be him. Even though I barely know him I get the feeling he isn't the best choice for me to be hanging out with. He's incredibly handsome and smart I know that much but something about him scares me, a lot. I glanced at the attractive red head and it seemed everyone else in the class was anxious for an answer too.

Akashi smiled slightly, "Of course not, I wouldn't mind at all."

* * *

Done! I have to say I have no idea how accurate (or inaccurate) the school parts are, I hope I got it close though, thank you for reading I'm going to write the next chapter from Akashi's POV.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4! R&R please.

* * *

•Akashi Seijuro•

I didn't really have a choice. Being on the student council meant that I had to take in others priorities too which meant helping when I could. It was a pain sometimes. But my decision was because my father had arranged a marriage between his company and an American one and he has instructed me to spend time with my future wife, Yukiko Anderson or as she was known here, Mikami Yukiko the daughter of an important and powerful business man. As I look at her now she was better than I expected and what impressed me was the fact she didn't flinch when interrupting my earlier conversation with her rule-breaking friend.

I don't care about the arrangement, it was so my father could be even more successful and since I'm going to inherit that business I might as well help out.

Lunch came around and I waited for her by the door. She looked at me cautiously. I ignored the look and started walk towards the cafeteria. She followed me in silence.

"This is the cafeteria. Get your lunch and meet me back here, I will show you the rest of the school." I said in my usual tone and walked off. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her staring at me. _What a weird girl..._

* * *

When she returned to our meeting place I immediately headed for the next spot on our tour. The science lab. Neither of us spoke on the way there but I could see she was nervous. It was probably the stares she received from the other students that were in the area, why they would stare at her I have no idea. She wasn't exactly pretty she was average actually and nothing about her seemed to stand out. Well not when you look at her. I remember feeling slightly impressed when she had the nerve to interrupt my conversation. I showed her the lab then we moved on through all the necessities before heading to the library.

"Hey, um Akashi-kun, how did you know my name?"

I didn't stop walking but I turned my head slightly to face her, "Do you not know? Our fathers have made an arrangement." I was surprised. _Did she really not know about the marriage?_

The look of horror on her face confirmed my suspicions but before she could question me we had arrived in front of the glass doors of Rakuzan's library.

I gestured to it vaguely, completely ignoring the look she gave me, "The library, it-" I was cut off by someone's obnoxious yelling. "Sei-chan! Sei-chan!" I turned and saw Kotarou Hayama running towards me. _Running...in the hallways..._

"Walk next time." I said coldly, "What is it?"

Kotarou had was gasping for breath, "Sei-chan, coach wants to see you and he got mad because you weren't at training this lunch break and he said he'd make us run laps if we didn't find you." Kotarou managed to finish.

"I have to make sure Mikami knows her way around the school." I replied quietly. Kotarou's eyes widened, "Mikami? Like Mikami Yukiko?"

I nodded, a little annoyed.

"What?! How do you know about my name and what's the arrangement you were talking about?!" Mikami yelled suddenly, the shy person who was following me quietly was gone.

"Congratulations! I can't believe it, ha! I have to tell the others I met you. But I kinda feel sorry for you, you'll probably be hated by the girls for a while but it's okay, you can hang out with us!" Kotarou cheered.

"No, wait slow down! What is happening...?" Mikami looked at both Kotarou and myself with confusion all over her face.

Kotarou's face fell, "You didn't even know?!" He looked horrified. "Sei-chan didn't you tell her, wait didn't her parents even tell her?!"

"Tell me what?!" The auburn haired girl shrieked earning quite a few stares from the passers-by.

I sighed, ignoring my teammate I turned to fully face the near-hysterical girl, "We're getting married." I said calmly.

She fainted.

I was expecting an outburst or even a slap to the face, something angry. What I wasn't expecting was for her to actually faint. I caught her of course, I wasn't going to let anyone get injured.

"She's out cold, I'll take her to the infirmary, go find her friend." I said to Kotarou.

He frowned, "Uh, a description if her friend please?"

I narrowed my eyes, "She's the one improperly dressed one, the one with a foul mouth."

"Okay...I'll see what I can do." he said uncertainly before running off, again. _Since Kotarou loves to run in the school's hallways he can run 20 laps of the schools grass oval._ I thought to myself.

I shifted the auburn haired girl in my arms and proceeded to walk to the infirmary carrying said girl bridal style.

I received quite a few odd looks but they all knew better than to question me.

Mikami was lay down on one of the beds as soon as I arrived. The nurses fretted about and told me to wait outside. I complied without any fuss and stepped outside to wait.

* * *

•3rd Person POV•

"Um, okay, not dressed properly, not dressed properly." Hayama muttered to himself while walking down the corridors. It wasn't even halfway into lunch so he still had plenty of time to find the 'improperly dressed' friend as Akashi called her. Unfortunately he still had no luck and after searching practically the entire school he went back to the gym.

Mibuchi, Nebuya and Mayuzumi were sitting on the bench while some of the 2nd string players were on the courts.

"Hayama, where's Akashi?" Eiji Shirogane, the coach of Rakuzan's elite basketball team questioned the small forward. Irritation was written all over his face.

"Sei-chan's in the infirmary."

"Eh?! What happened?!" Nebuya stopped stuffing his face with karubi* for a moment to yell in surprise. Even Mibuchi lost his cool facade for a moment.

"Sei-chan wasn't hurt!" Hayama said hurriedly, "Mikami Yukiko fainted when he told her about the marriage so he carried her to the infirmary."

Akashi had made it a point to tell his teammates this news do it wasn't a shock to them.

"Hang on a second, who fainted?!" The regulars on the bench looked towards the source of the voice which was a mocha haired girl.

A moment of silence. The intrusion was a surprise considering no girls played basketball and outsiders weren't allowed in the gym.

"And you are?" Coach Shirogane spoke, breaking the awkward moment.

"Arianna Sanders 1C." She said quickly and turned to Hayama, "Who fainted and what marriage?!

"Um, Mikami-san fainted and-" The small forward never finished his sentence.

"What?! Where's the infirmary?!" Arianna yelled causing everyone to look at her not that she noticed.

"Calm down woman and don't you know outsiders aren't allowed in the gym at lunch. And how did you get past the student council dressed like that?" Nebuya said a little impressed.

Something in Hayama's brain clicked, "Hey, are you the one Sei-chan wanted me to find? You're the one who's not wearing the uniform right, you're Mikami-san's friend aren't you?"

"Woah guys, slow down. No I didn't know that I couldn't be here, I came to ask about the basketball club but apparently it ain't so popular with the girls. I actually got detention for this lunch but I didn't show up." She said crossing her arms over her chest. "And yeah I'm Yuki's friend but who's Sei-chan?"

Reo finally spoke up, "Sei-chan is the captain of Rakuzan's basketball team." He said pleasantly.

"Sorry don't know who the captain is." Arianna said plainly.

"The captain is Akashi Seijuro." The coach said, "You should leave now."

Arianna had already started walking towards the gym doors, "Yeah, yeah whatever I gotta go find the infirmary."

"Wait," Hayama called out, chasing the first year student, "Sei-chan told me to take you to the infirmary."

"Oh he did, good. Now hurry up, she could be dead by now!" Said student raised her voice and the basketball player quickened his step in terror at her yelling.

Mayizumi who had been quiet for the duration of the conversation now voiced his opinion. "What a rude person." He commented quietly causing his fellow teammates and coach to jump slightly.

* * *

Hayama had managed to get Arianna to the infirmary without getting his head bitten off which was pretty amazing. When they had arrived Akashi was already waiting outside.

"This is her right?" Hayama smiled cheerfully when Akashi nodded, "Bye Sei-chan." He said and scampered off, eager to get away from the volatile girl who honestly, did scare him a little. Just a little though.

"You!" Arianna yelped pointing an accusing finger at the hetereochromic captain.

"Yes?" Akashi replied not changing his flat tone.

"Yes nothing! Why the hell are you getting marri-" Akashi slapped a hand over her mouth and dragged her into the infirmary before she could finish off the sentence. A pair of red scissors was pointed at her throat, "Keep your voice down, that information isn't for the public." The captain said in the same flat tone. He let go when he saw angry ticks appear on her forehead.

The green-eyed girl threw a punch at him.

However, Akashi never moved or even blinked at the sudden action. Her hand stopped short like he knew it would. She glared at him, "I really want to punch you. But, a promise is a promise." She finished and put her arm down. Arianna walked past him towards the bed Mikami was lying in.

"By the way, you still owe me a bagel…scissor-freak."

* * *

Aaah, this took me a while. Updates will be a lot less frequent because school is starting. (Kill me now!) I hope you liked it, review please.

*Karubi are boneless short ribs


	5. Chapter 5

•Mikami Yukiko•

When I opened my eyes I was blinded by the bright fluorescent lights that hung from the ceiling. I blinked a couple times and looked at my surroundings, I had no idea where I was.

"Yuki!"

I turned my head slightly. Ari was standing to my right and there was a big grin on her face.

"Hey, how are ya feeling?"

"Where am I?" I croaked, my throat was dry.

"The infirmary." I knew that voice. Akashi Seijuro had just answered me. "Drink." he commanded, handing me a glass of water. Slowly I sat up, my body was stiff and I accepted the water he gave me. The liquid was cool and soothing and I gulped it down in a flash.

"Damn you're pretty thirsty aren't ya?" Ari said giving me a sympathetic look. "Hey scissors-freak, get her some more water."

Scissors-freak? Oh Akashi...

"No." was the red head's reply.

Ari glared daggers at him, "Just do it, it's closer to you and besides this is for Yuki, remember?" her tone dropped to a half-sneer as she finished, she could be really rude sometimes.

I cleared my throat before they could start arguing. "It's okay I don't need anymore water. Um, how did I get here, what happened?"

"You fainted." Akashi stated.

"Oh." was all I could manage.

Ari raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest, "So, did you know you were getting married?"

I don't know why bit I blushed at the mention of the marriage. I shook my head.

"Why not?!" Ari exclaimed, "How on Earth could you not know?!"

I saw Akashi pull out a pair of red scissors, "Lower your voice or I'll punish you." He said threateningly.

"Bring it on you red-haired perfectionist!" Ari snapped back.

"I'm sorry, are we interrupting something here?"

I turned my head towards the door and saw three tall boys. One of them was holding a basketball so I assumed they were in the club. I suddenly remembered something Ari told me yesterday.

"Hey, Ari? Did you say you were going to sign up for basketball?"

My best friend looked at me in surprise, "Yeah I did but it's not really popular with the girls."

"So you were at the gym because wanted to join the basketball club?" The big muscly guy said loudly.

"Yeah, so?" Ari shot back.

Before Ari could start another argument I interrupted, "Who are you guys? I mean I don't wanna seem rude but..."

"Aw, you're cute. I'm Mibuchi Reo."

"Hi! My name's Hayama Kotarou!"

"Nebuya Eikichi, nice to meet you"

I blinked at their politeness, they seemed pretty nice.

"Reo, Kotarou, Eikichi what are you doing here?" The red haired captain questioned his teammates.

Mibuchi Reo, I think, replied, "Hayama told us he met your fiancée so we decided to drop by."

I blushed madly. "It's not like that! I didn't even know about it."

"Eh?!" Nebuya exclaimed, "How come? Even we knew!"

My best friend beat me to it "What?! You guys know?!"

"Yeah! Sei-chan told us!" Hayama said with a smile plastered on his face. "Oh and Mayuzumi-kun didn't come. He said he wasn't interested."

I stared at them dumb folded. Even Akashi's teammates knew about the arrangement before I did! Why didn't father tell me?

"Ari?" I said quietly, "I think I'm going to faint again."

Everyone fell silent.

"Sorry Yuki, I don't know how to stop someone from fainting." My best friend smiled at me apologetically.

"I think I need some time alone and a bit of sleep." I said to no one in particular. My brain was going into overdrive. Why was I getting married? I'm only 16 for heaven's sake.

Ari grinned at me, "That's a great idea!" she pulled the curtain aside and called for the nurse, "Hey, do you think you could write a note for her about taking the rest of the day off? Oh and one for me too."

"What do you need a note for Arianna-chan? You're not even sick." Hayama looked at her oddly.

"Well someone has to make sure she doesn't die." Ari said bluntly. "Besides, I live with her so it'll be a hell lot easier. Oh and uh, drop the honourifics, just call me Ari."

I sighed, "You don't want to stay at school do you?"

"Nope." Was all I got in reply.

Nebuya snorted, "And to think we were actually gonna let you trial for a spot"

"Really? Was it Shirogane's decision?" Akashi spoke up suddenly.

Mibuchi nodded, "He said he's seen her play before."

Ari smirked, "So I can trial right? Even if I'm a girl?"

"I don't think there are any rules saying that a girl can't play. Coach said to tell you to come to the gym tomorrow morning at 7 o'clock." Hayama said.

"Brilliant! I can skip school today and kick your sorry asses tomorrow!" Ari cheered.

"You've got a big mouth you know that!" Nebuya immediately went on the offensive when Ari mentioned beating them.

"Says the guy who stuffed a whole pork slice in his mouth and actually talked while eating it!" She said without missing a beat.

"Enough." Akashi said, "You may continue this argument tomorrow, on the courts."

"This will be fun don't you think so too Mika-chan?" Mibuchi said offering me a glass of water.

I blushed a little at the nickname he gave me and thanked him for the water. The nurse came back and she had actually written out two notes for us; Ari and me. I can't believe she did it, but I guess Akashi being there had something to do with it. He was pretty high up on the student council and he was only a first year student.

A few minutes later I stood up but I needed to lean on Ari because my legs felt like jelly. Lunch wasn't over yet, there was still about ten minutes left. The break time was around an hour and a half which was pretty decent.

Mibuchi, Hayama and especially Nebuya went to get a quick bite before class started so I was left with Akashi and Ari. I couldn't exactly walk so both my arms were looped around thief necks respectively which was a little awkward because they were both taller than me. None of us spoke until we were confronted at the front gates by the same black haired girl who called Ari ugly earlier today.

"Akashi-kun!" she exclaimed running towards him. Her skirt was pulled up too high and with the fact that she was also running, well, quite a few guys in the area got a nosebleed.

"Fujimoto," Akashi said in the same monotone voice, "What do you want?"

"Well Akashi-kun, I came up with an idea to make the school even better! Can we talk about it? In private?" She said sweetly, completely ignoring me and Ari. In fact it sounded arrogant but maybe that was just me because I never liked her from the moment I first saw her.

"Pull your skirt down a bit. Unless you know, you actually want everyone to see your underwear." Ari's voice reached the ears of everyone, students and pedestrians, who was standing at a 30m radius.

The girl's eyes widened a little and she went red. "O-of c-course n-not." She stammered and hastily pulled her skirt down. I think she was embarrassed of being accused by Ari in front of the oh-so-popular-and-handsome Akashi Seijuro. Wait, did I just call him handsome?! It must because I'm coming down with something...

"Great! Now we gotta get moving!" Ari responded as if nothing had happened.

We turned and walked right up to the front gate. I was still leaning on both of them for support, I guess the news really did get to me. "Akashi-kun?"

"Yes?" He replied.

"Who was that girl?" I asked, trying to be casual.

"Sayaka Fujimoto ."

I nodded. It was all I could do.

"Alrighty then, you can leave and get back to your exhibitionist of a girlfriend, scissors-freak!" Ari said while maintains her cheerful facade.

"Please refrain from using such vulgar language." He said irritably.

"I will when you stop being so posh." she grinned back, "Later." With that we exited the school and walked down the road.

* * *

It took us a while to get to the apartment but I managed to walk after about three-quarters of the way. Ari and I collapsed on the couch as soon as we got back.

"I really regret promising you I wouldn't punch anyone today." Ari said sullenly, "There were so many opportunities!"

I shook my head slightly and smiled, Ari could always cheer me up. Even if the world had ended she could crack a joke that would have me laughing on the floor. "Alright, how about I make those cupcakes?"

Ari's eyes were now as wide as saucers, she twisted around and sat up properly. "Really?"

"Sure, you managed to not send anyone to the hospital so I'm counting that as a win." I replied with a smile on my face.

"Yes! Woo!" she yelled, "Thank you so much!"

I grinned and walked to the kitchen to start preparing the snacks.

It had started raining later that day, in fact it was pouring. The sky was dark grey and we decided to watch a movie. A horror movie. So naturally, when the someone knocked on the door to our flat, I screamed.

"Calm down!" Ari exclaimed, I had launched myself onto her when I heard the tapping sound. She stood up and walked to the door.

"Careful, you should bring a bat with you..." I mumbled wrapping myself in the blankets in the couch. Ari rolled her eyes, "Oh please, it's not going to be something scary, it's probably the neighbors," She said twisting the doorknob. "Yo, what's u- What the hell!"

I jumped, "What is it?!" I half shrieked. I looked at the doorway, "Ari?"

"Hello Mikami-cchi, Ari-cchi! ! I brought Aomine-cchi and Momoi-cchi too!"

I knew that voice. Kise Ryouta. I walked to the door and saw Ari was standing off to a side, twitching in irritation. "You've got to be joking. That's it I'm going to bed." she said and turned to walk towards her bedroom.

"Kise-kun, Aomine-kun, what are you doing here?" I exclaimed, then I noticed pink haired girl who was clutching Aomine's arm. "Um, who are you?" I asked politely, letting them walk through the door and into the living room.

"Hello, I'm Momoi!" she said cheerfully. "Don't bother introducing yourself, Dai-chan and Ki-chan already told me."

Kise glanced around, "Eh? Where did Ari-cchi go?"

"She's sleeping now." I replied, if Ari said she was going to bed, she was _definitely_ going to bed.

"What?! She can't do that, we have important stuff to talk about! Where's her room?" Kise said walking toward the hallway.

"Kise-kun! Wait, don't wake her up! She's really violent!" I said quickly. Kise just flashed me a smile and walked into Ari's room. I guess Ari wouldn't live up to her promise after all, not that it's really her fault but poor Kise...

Aomine and Momoi were sitting on the couch listening intently. I sat opposite them on a little stool doing the same thing.

A few moments went by, and then;

Kise shrieked like a little girl, yes shrieked and ran out of Ari's bedroom towards us. "Mikami-cchi! Help!" he yelled and nearly bowled me over. He crouched behind me and stayed there, whimpering. Ari walked out as if nothing happened but I knew better. That look in her eye told me she was ready to send someone to hospital with at least 100 broken bones.

"Kise?" I whispered.

"Yes Mikami-cchi?" he replied in the same hushed tone.

"You should run."

Kise gulped, he had been punched by Ari before and that wasn't a pleasant experience. "Is it that bad?" Kise said.

"It's worse." I replied. He shivered, "Okay I'm going for the door." He said.

"Alright I'll distract her, good luck." I then stood up and walked over to my best friend. "I think I'm going to faint again Ari." I whined. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Momoi and Aomine exchange glances. Oh that's right, they didn't know I fainted earlier today, I guess I'll have to tell them later.

Ari's voice cut through my thoughts, "This is a distraction isn't it?" She said raising an eyebrow." I smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, it is."

She shrugged, "Oh well, Kise?"

"Y-yes Ari-cchi?"

"You got 5 seconds to run before I send you to the surgery room in hospital." She said a sadistic smile creeping over her features.

"5."

"4."

"3."

Then she suddenly launched herself at Kise who just managed to throw open the door and bolt down the corridor.

"What happened to 2 and 1?!" He yelled while running down the stairs.

"To hell with 2 and 1, I'm gonna murder you!" she snapped back. "Damn blonde, get back here!"

Their voices faded away as they ran and I sighed, the neighbors were going to start complaining soon, it's around 9:30pm. I shut the door and turned to face Momoi and Aomine who were both struggling to hold back laughter.

"Ah, I completely forgot to tape that." I said, "Oh well, say are you guys hungry? I made done cupcakes this afternoon, they're chocolate."

"Yeah bring 'em over." Aomine said after recovering from his almost-laughing state. Momoi scolded him gently, "Dai-chan! Be more polite. Yes please Mi-chan, we'd love some!"

I was just about to go and get them when I suddenly thought of something, "Hey, Aomine-kun, Momoi-san, how did you find out where we live?"

"I dunno, Kise and Satsuki did some stalking cause they heard green-eyes knew how to play basketball pretty well." Aomine answered flicking through some channels.

I couldn't help but smile. _Stalking? Way to describe it Aomine._ As I walked into the kitchen I heard the doorbell ring again, "Could one of you get that? It's probably Kise-kun and Ari."

I heard a faint "Sure" from Aomine and the sound of the door being unlocked.

"The hell?! What are you doing here?!"

I quickly piled the cupcakes onto the serving platter and rushed into the living room to see what happened. As soon as I saw who it was I almost dropped the platter.

"Yukiko, are you feeling better?"

"A-akashi?!"

* * *

**A/N:** This is probably the last update for a while, I have an exam coming up in about a week and I need to study (try to anyways...) Hope you liked it, reviews are appreciated.


	6. Chapter 6

•Mikami Yukiko•

"Um, come in I guess, Ari isn't here right now so..." I trailed off. What was I suppose to say anyways? My 'fiancé' showed up at my door, I guess I should let him in.

Akashi stepped through the doorway, "Daiki, why are you here?"

"Why am I here? Why the hell are you here?!" Aomine's surprise was poorly concealed.

"Yukiko fainted earlier, I came to see if she was alright." Akashi replied simply before taking a pair of scissors from the back pocket of his jeans, "In future Daiki, you should rethink the way you talk to your former captain."

Aomine backed away putting his hands up in surrender while I blushed. It was kind of sweet for Akashi to check up on me, not to mention he looked gorgeous in jeans and a hoodie. No snap out of it, I'm not gonna be forced to marry this guy.

"Akashi-kun!" Momoi, ran over to him and gave him a hug, "How have you been?"

"Fine." he said, not at all affected by the pink haired girl's hug.

"How do you all know each other? You go to different high schools right?" I've wondered about this for a while now.

"We were in the same middle school and Akashi-kun, Dai-chan and Ki-chan played basketball. I was their manager." Momoi declared proudly, giving me a smile.

Oh. That explains it.

We sat down. The two basketball players were on opposite ends of the couch. Aomine was watching TV and Akashi was spinning his red scissors. They didn't talk at all and it was just Momoi and I talking about girl things. I learned quite a bit. The middle school they went to was called Teiko and Kise, Aomine and Akashi played as regulars along with a guys called Murasakibara and another guy called Midorima. They were called the 'Generation of Miracles' and they were known pretty well in the world of sports in Japan, no wonder Kise looked shocked when Ari said he'd never heard of him.

I blinked. Midorima... I think I've heard of that name, I wonder where. Before I could ask Momoi, someone knocked on the door, again. Although I'm sure it's Kise and Ari, poor Kise, I hope he wasn't too badly hurt...

"I'll get it!" I said to no one in particular. Momoi didn't seem to mind the intrusion and helped herself to a cupcake. I pulled the door open and found myself face-to face with Kise who was, surprisingly unharmed.

"Waah, Mikami-cchi!" he cried out and hugged me, "I'm still alive!" He was crying waterfalls of tears. As exaggerated as the whole being 'alive' thing sounded, Kise had been pretty lucky not to get at least a bruise on him.

"Hey, Kise?" I said quietly, "Where did you go? Did you run outside?"

He pulled away and gave me a big grin, "Yup. I ran past a lolly shop and that's where I lost her so I came back here!" He walked into the apartment, "Akashi-cchi?!"

Akashi flocked his eyes over to the doorway, "Ryouta, I see you're here too."

Kise bounded over, "Aw, Akashi-cchi wanted to see his girlfriend." he teased. The hetereochromic basketball player looked murderous.

"Ryouta..." Akashi murmured dangerously. Kise scampered away and sat himself between Aomine and Momoi. He started to chat with the pink-haired manager while Aomine watched TV and stuffed his face with the cupcakes on the coffee table.

I had shut the door and I was standing behind the couch feeling a bit awkward. There were four people whom I barely know sitting on my couch, three of which are boys, very good looking boys. I sighed to myself, Kise seemed to be the bubbly type not to mention he's also a model, Momoi told me that. Aomine is literally the guy version of Ari, they're both rude and laid-back, It's funny how I can talk about my best friend like that without her taking any offense. I like Momoi, she's smart and knows how to make you feel comfortable and then there's Akashi. I don't know much about him, even with the info Momoi gave me on the Generation of Miracles. He's an amazing basketball player who has nearly every girl begging for him to date one of them. _But he's really cold to them..._

"Yukiko, a word in private." Akashi had suddenly appeared behind me. I nearly screamed, who does that?! I bet it scares a lot of people.

"Um...sure..." I said shakily. He walked out of the living room and into the hallway, he then made a right turn and opened the door to my bedroom. How Akashi knows that's my bedroom, well I honestly don't care how he knows anymore, he's practically psychic.

We stepped into the room and I sat down on the edge of my bed. My room wasn't too messy, there were a couple books on the ground but that was it. I looked at my feet after making sure nothing would be embarrassing for Akashi to see. He had pulled up the chair from my desk and say opposite me, our knees almost touching.

"I assume you haven't called your parents yet." Akashi had clasped his hands and rested his chin on them while tilting his head slightly to the right. I'll admit it, he looked extremely attracti- oh who am I kidding, he looked gorgeous, hot, sexy whatever you want to call it. I managed to shake my head without giving anything away.

"What would you say?" He asked quietly. I looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean? Why would I say anything?"

I could've sworn he smiled a little, "What would you say if you called your parents? Would you try to reason with them regarding the arrangement?"

I knew perfectly well what that 'arrangement' was. "Of course!" I said maybe a bit too loud. "Of course I would."

Akashi remained passive, "Why?"

I blushed and looked at my feet again, "I-it's not that I don't like you or anything, b-but I don't want to be forced to marry anyone." I would've gone on about finding that 'right' guy but I had a feeling Akashi wouldn't want to know.

"Even if it's to save your father's business from falling into debt?"

I snapped my head back to face him, my jaw dropped, "What?! My father's business is fine!"

Akashi smirked, "No it isn't, it seems your father made a poor investment choice. He is now in debt to the Akashi business. I believe that step-mother and step-sister of yours is coming to stay with you until this problem is fixed."

I stared at him in horror. I didn't which was worse, father being in serious debt or my step-mother and sister coming to stay.

"Your lying." My throat was dry. Those words were nothing, he was telling the truth, I know he was.

"You know I'm not lying." he replied smoothly, "That debt is settled when you become my wife." He stood up and walked out of the room.

This was wrong on so many levels, firstly how did father make such a bad choice? He graduated at the top of his class in business education and had earned a lot of power an recognition before he was 30! It would be nearly impossible for him to be indebted, the connections he had would have already dealt with the problem. Secondly, if he did somehow make a poor choice, why hasn't he just settled it with money? Surely it would be something concerning money. Lastly, if it wasn't to do with money, why would he make me marry someone I don't love?

I stood up slowly and pulled out my phone, I needed to talk to my father right now. Voices could be heard from the living room, they were laughing. I wonder why? Maybe Ari came back. Ari...she should know first shouldn't she...

I ended the call before it could get through and quickly made my way to the lounge. My best friend had come back, along with six plastic bags full of snacks, sweets and chocolate. I paled. I hope she didn't spend too much money, we were on a tight budget considering neither of us had jobs.

"Ari, where did you get those?" I said pointing to the numerous bags which were now on the floor.

Ari was currently eating an ice-cream, "I dunno, there was this shop that Kise ran by and the stuff they had looked good so I bought some." Kise looked a little scared at the mention of his name, "Don't worry blondie, I won't kill you, that shop has some pretty good snacks."

Some? She looked like she bought up the entire store!

"How much did you spend?" I asked nervously.

"I only paid for half of these, some purple-haired guy paid for the others." She replied shrugging her shoulders. "There was this other guy, Himuro or something who told him to pay. He said he knows me from another friend. Also, that purple guy was unnaturally tall, he was like 2 meters tall!"

Kise perked up, "Was it Murasakibara-cchi?"

"How should I know? The only name I got was Himuro, I think." Ari said and went back to eating her frozen snack.

Aomine scoffed, "That purple giant and the mirage guy is here too? Man, everyone's coming to Kyoto today."

Momoi nodded in agreement. It was then I realized Akashi wasn't in the living room, I guess he left already. Momoi noticed me looking around, "Akashi-kun left. He didn't say anything."

I just nodded. Kise and Aomine gave me weird looks but said nothing, Ari on the other hand...

"What?! That food snatcher was here?! Where is he?! I got a perfectly good bat to smash his head in!" Ari threw her popsicle stick in the bin by the couch and ran to her room. She came out with a baseball bat and ran out the door, well tried too. Aomine had caught the collar of her shirt and dragged her back in.

"You're a pain but even I don't wanna see your dead body on the sidewalk." He drawled.

Ari raised and eyebrow, "I have a bat." she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

His eyebrows lifted in amusement. "And that guy has an army and besides, you're pretty damn weak, I mean seriously green-eyes, you're not that stupid are you?" Ari glared at him and put the bat on the ground. Everyone had turned their attention to the space just in front of the door. I guess Aomine is next on Ari's list. He realized it too late. Ari tackled him to the ground before he could move and promptly sat on his back.

"Oi! Get off me!" He yelped attempting to push her off.

Ari had an extremely smug look on her face, "No."

"Oh c'mon, what did I do?"

It was Kise who spoke, "Aomine-cchi, you shouldn't have called Ari-cchi weak. I saw her take down two buff guys a week ago!"

Aomine gave up trying to push Ari off and rested his head on his arms, "You're really heavy green-eyes." He mumbled.

"Great excuse, weakling." Ari shot back and reached out to grab her snacks.

Momoi and I burst into fits of laughter. The great Aomine Daiki was pinned on to the floor by a 'weak' girl.

I completely forgot my worries, instead I enjoyed my time by talking to Kise and Momoi while Ari and Aomine had an argument. Yes, she was still sitting on his back. Honestly, any other girl would feel weird or embarrassed if they were sitting on someone else, especially if that someone else was a guy. Especially if that guy was the bad ass, class-skipping basketball ace Aomine Daiki. You gotta hand it to her, she knows how to deal with awkward situations.

Momoi had told me all about Aomine, she was his childhood friend so that explained why they were so close. Kise and I talked about random things as well as some of the other Generation of Miracles players. He mentioned Murasakibara and Midorima, speaking of which, "Who is Midorima?" I asked, I meant to ask earlier but I was interrupted.

"He's the best shooter out there! Midorima-cchi never misses his shots." Kise replied cheerfully. "Why do you ask?"

"I think I've heard his name somewhere before." I said trying to recall where and when.

"Well he is part of the Teiko team and they're pretty famous." Momoi inputted.

I frowned, no that wasn't it. I think Ari knows him, maybe. I remember her saying something about Midorima.

"Hey, Ari?" I called out to her. She was bickering with Aomine.

"Yeah, what is it?" She replied. Aomine respectfully shut his mouth while we started to talk.

"Do you know who Midorima is?"

"Midorima? No, don't think so, why?" Ari have me a questioning look.

"I'm sure I've heard you talk about him." I said frowning once again, it seemed really important for some reason. I turned to Momoi and Kise, "What's his first name?"

"Shintarou." They both said at the same time. I looked at Ari.

"Oh! You mean Shin-chan? I know him."

We all stared at her, although Aomine had a hard time twisting his head around.

"Really? Wait, why Shin-chan?" I asked. Ari gave me a half-smile, "Because he hates it."

Kise looked pretty happy, happier than usual anyways, "You know Midorima-cchi? That's great!"

"He never mentioned you, how do you know each other?" Momoi looked curious.

Aomine turned his head back and rested it on his hands, "Tch, maybe she was his girlfriend." This earned him a smack to the head.

"Our parents knew each other." she replied. Momoi looked disappointed, "So there isn't a love story between you two?"

Ari looked slightly pissed off,"Hell no!"

Momoi giggled and started to tease Ari. The other two joined in as well. I didn't have anything to say considering I didn't know Midorima. I glanced at the clock on the wall, it read 11:04. I cleared my throat, "It's really late now, don't you all have school tomorrow as well?" They checked the time. Kise jumped up, "I have a model shoot tomorrow morning, I have to go. Goodbye, Mikami-cchi, Ari-cchi." He then ran out the door, jumping over Aomine and Ari who was still sitting on him. She waved goodbye as he left.

"We better go to, come on Dai-chan" Momoi said standing up.

"Fine, now will you get off me green-eyes?"

Ari just rolled her eyes but got off him anyways, "Bye Momoi, see you later dirt-for-brains." She said and walked away. Aomine twitched, if it wasn't for Momoi I'm sure there would be another fight.

"Thanks Mi-chan! See you later Ari-chan!" Momoi said smiling. She and Aomine left a moment later.

I grabbed the plastic bags and put them in the kitchen. I quickly loaded the dishwasher and went to the bathroom to take a shower. I let the hot water run down my shoulders for a little longer than I should have but it didn't really matter. After wrapping myself in the towel I walked out of the tiled bathroom and opened my bedroom. Ari was dressed in her pajamas which were shorts and a plain over sized T-shirt. Her back was on the floor while her legs up on my bed and she had a basketball in her hands. I wasn't surprised she was there, it saved me from going to her room. I got changed, it didn't matter if she saw or not, she was my closet friend.

"You done?"

I turned around and sat cross-legged on the floor next to her head. "Yeah, I'm done." Ari stopped spinning the ball and looked up at me, "What are you gonna do?"

I sighed, "I don't know. I really don't know, there isn't a set date yet so I guess I'll just forget about it until then."

"I don't know if that's possible. He's in your class, isn't he?" She said. I nodded and started playing with her hair.

Ari pursed her lips, "I'm trialling tomorrow, are you going to come? I'm pretty sure he's gonna be there though."

"Of course I will!" I didn't have to think about my answer, why wouldn't I be there to see her kick-ass?

"You sure?" Ari said sceptically, "Is the something you aren't telling me? You look really uncomfortable."

"I will come with you tomorrow morning." I put a reassuring smile, "And you're right, I'm not telling you something but I don't think you'll like it."

Ari sat up properly and faced me, the basketball was now sitting in her lap. "I don't care, tell me!" she begged, "Please? C'mon, tell me!"

"Natasha and Chelsea are coming here." I replied.

Ari stared at me, "Why?"

I was taken back by her calm reaction, I was so sure she would start screaming. "Because my father is in debt to the Akashi Corporation and to pay off toes debts I have to marry Akashi Seijuro." I said abruptly.

Ari frowned a little, "What's this got to do with your bitch of a step-mom and that spoiled plastic doll that she calls her daughter?"

I nearly laughed at the way she said it. Ari just managed to insult two people as of she were talking about the weather.

"I honestly don't know. Everything is messed up and now those two are coming and I still have school and the whole marriage thing," My voice cracked, I was stressed out as well as being nervous and scared. Not a good combination.

I wrapped my arms around Ari's neck and hugged her, "I am so glad I have a friend like you." I mumbled into her shoulder. I felt myself tremble and I openly cried. Ari hugged me back and we stayed like that for a while. Ari patted me on the back reassuringly, "Don't worry about it Yuki, when those gold-diggers come, we'll give 'em hell."

I smiled through my tears. I was lucky to have a friend like her, she was a sister to me. The kind that stood up for me regardless of what the rest of the world thinks. I shut my eyes and leaned against her.

_I really am lucky, aren't I?_

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**A/N:** Comments and suggestions are welcome! This is the first time I've very done this thing so I'm open to all ideas. Thanks for reading, until next time!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** This is a longer chapter because I wont be able to update for at least a couple weeks I have exams. Thank you to: Cocopop55 and zZhell-butterflyZz for the kind words. To the guests who reviewed, I really appreciate your comments and to the people that reviewed and gave me ideas, I think that they are wonderful ideas and I will be incorporating bits and pieces of them further in the story. Anyways hope you enjoy it. R&R

* * *

•Mikami Yukiko•

I felt a lot better this morning. Ari and I woke up early today, she had a basketball trial. I had researched a little on Japan's basketball tournaments in the area and discovered two of them -Inter High and Winter Cup. I read about them to make sure I wasn't just a tag-a-long. I also searched up some information on the Generation of Miracles.

We walked to school without any drama and went around trying to find the gym. There were 3 gyms at Rakuzan, one was for volleyball and badminton, the other one was a multipurpose gym and the last one was for basketball. We had just walked in on a bunch of second-years playing volleyball and it ended up being pretty awkward considering the fact Ari had flung open the doors for a dramatic entrance and started to yell. She didn't too bothered when they all stared at her weirdly.

"You were at the gym yesterday, how could you forget where it was?!" I exclaimed for the millionth time that day. Ari grinned sheepishly, "I have a pretty screwed sense of direction. Lets just ask someone."

"There's no one here. Unless you want to ask the volleyball players." I replied smirking a little. She frowned, "No way, that was pretty damn awkward."

I giggled and we continued walking down the freshly cleaned hallways. It was now 7:51am and if I remember correctly, her trials were at 8 in the morning. Another 9 minutes to go, although it probably won't matter if we're a few minutes late. Our little walk took us to the cafeteria which was, of course, deserted.

Ari flopped down on a table, "This sucks, why aren't there any maps here?" she whined and spread herself out on top of the table. I took a seat near her head and poked her, "You wouldn't be able to read a map even if there was one."

She tilted her head and glared at me, "Shut up Yuki."

"Never." I replied grinning. We ended up bickering for a few minutes. We would have been late, but thankfully Mibuchi showed up.

"Were the two of you lost?"

We mumbles yes's in reply. He smiled at us and starting walking towards the gym. Ari and I followed in silence, there wasn't much to talk about anyways.

When we arrived at the place, there were already a bunch of people practicing. There was an awful lot of noise, it's amazing we didn't hear it when we walked through the school earlier.

"Here we are. Sei-chan and the others are down there." Mibuchi said pointing at the far end of the basketball courts. I could see Akashi's bright red hair and Nebuya's massive build from here. Two others were sitting on the bench along with the coach who was standing behind them. We made our way over, walking on the outer most sides of the gym so as to not disturb everyone's training, they all seemed to be working pretty hard.

"Morning!" Ari called out, waving at them as we walked.

Akashi looked at us, "I see you made it on time." He said. Ari and I stopped about a meter away from them.

Ari gave him a sickly sweet smile,"Why of course we did," she said, her tone matching her smile. She returned to her usual self a second later, "So, how's this gonna work?"

Coach Shirogane cleared his throat, "Arianna Sanders, correct?"

Ari nodded.

"You played in America, in the Dragonfly's team, as their ace." The coach stated. A ripple of surprise went through the team and anyone who heard the coach's words, even Akashi raised his eyebrow. I could see why, the Dragonfly team had won the Spring Championships, three years in a row.

It was basically a basketball tournament that was held in either the season of Spring, hence the name of the championship. There were three main divisions for the teams - Under 14, Under 16 and the Under 18. It was a national event and over 1000 clubs sign up for it each year. The actual tournament is only the finals that occur during Spring, the rest is played out by going against other clubs. It's like the Inter High that Rakuzan participated in last term. The numbers were cut down to about 5 teams of both genders for each division for the Spring Championships. It was a extremely high achievement to just get into the tournament, let alone win. The players come from all over the country and foreigners also participated. Many had skills that had been polished to perfection and have had lots of experience. It played at a higher level than the Inter High and the upcoming Winter Cup, although the Generation of Miracles could have made it in I suppose.

Ari and her team were newly established but they played in the Under 14 rounds in their first year of becoming the Dragonfly's. She and her team were all 12-13 years old and they completely triumphed the Under 14 division, coming out on top with a clear score. This happened again in the second year and in their third year of playing for the Dragonfly's, the event managers decided to let them play in the Under 18 division instead of the Under 16. They won, but barely this time. Most the players on the team were 15 when they had won, this resulted in many broadcasts and magazine articles. You could say they were the girls equivalent of the Generation of Miracles.

"No way!" Hayama gaped at Ari, "That can't be right! And you played as their center too?!"

By now the entire gym had crowded over to us. Ari clasped her fingers together and placed them on her head. "We didn't actually have any set positions, it was a 'oh look, that's a free spot, I'll just run there and take the shot' kinda thing."

"Impressive."

Everyone turned to look at Akashi. I could tell by their reactions that he rarely gave out compliments.

"Yes, very impressive indeed. Not only that," Coach Shirogane turned to look at me, "Mikami Yukiko was also playing in that team as well as being the assistant manager."

The attention was on me now, I blushed. "I-I didn't p-play in the Championships, I just helped a little." I stammered awkwardly, I sucked at talking to groups.

I did play in the tournament, but only once and that was because one of the girls had twisted her ankle in the first year and I was sent out. It was in the last three minutes and I didn't really contribute at all.

"You were the assistant manager to one of the most successful teams in America, you must have done something. Either way, I was just confirming that it was you two that I saw in that report." The coach said, "Sanders, get on the court, you're playing one-on-one with Nebuya.

Nebuya looked startled at the mention of his name, "Hm, oh right, okay then." he said and scoffed down the sandwich he had been eating.

"Uh, wait a second." Ari began, cutting off the noise that had started to rise, "I didn't exactly dress for this..." she said pointing at herself. I'd forgotten she was wearing the formal uniform. I doubt she could play in a skirt and leather shoes. "So where are the change rooms?"

"In there." The coach said, gesturing to the side door. "Hayama, show them the way."

Wait, them?

"Sir, can I just stay here?" I asked quietly. The coach looked surprised, "Why?"

"I don't need to get changed, do I?" I responded, my voice getting quieter and quieter with the increasing awkwardness.

Coach Shirogane raised an eyebrow, "I though you wanted to trial too. If not why are you here? No outsiders are allowed so if you don't have anything to do here you'll have to leave." he stated bluntly.

"Um, I came to support Ari and um, I also wanted to ask if I could help with the managing..." I trailed off not knowing what else to say. Most the crowd had gone back to training so I wasn't as embarrassing.

"Show me your skills," he said and gestured for me to start observing the non regulars on the court.

I turned to face the courts and walk up to the side line. Deep breaths seem to be able to calm me down these days so I took a lot of them. I saw a black haired player shoot from the foul line, his right foot edged in front just before he took the shot. He went for the shot again but this time his foot didn't move, it was a fake. He twisted around and I saw the movement of his foot again as he threw the ball. Halfway down the court a pale, hazel colored hair player was practicing dribbling against two others. His movements were sharp and agile but his eyes were a dead giveaway. He would always glance in the direction he was going to next. A few meters away from him was another player who was playing defense. I saw the problem with his late reactions right away. His stance was a little too close together and his knees were locked making it harder to move as quickly. I relayed my observations to the coach.

The older man inclined his head slightly, "Good, you may be of use to the team, I suppose."

At that moment Ari stepped out. She was dressed in her dark blue and orange Dragonfly uniform and wore neon green and pink Nike's. "We playing now or what?" she asked as she drew closer to the bench. Nebuya let out a huge burp in response and stood up. Mibuchi scolded him but the bulky player ignored his words.

"Let's play!" Nebuya roared, "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."

"I'd like to see you try." Ari said back, tossing her bag to the floor. The people who were just practicing had cleared the court and were gathered all around the sidelines, eager to see the match. It's not every day you see one of the regulars play off against a girl. Definitely not a girl who played at a national level. I grinned, Ari had a lot of speed and stamina behind her. Her accuracy increased the the further away she was from the basket although her shooting range was from the base line to the three point line. She normally took all her shots from the inside. Strength-wise, I'd say she was around the average level for girls her age. Her reaction speed was incredible, however, if she is on the court for too long without breaks, Ari's timing starts to be a little off.

I looked at Nebuya. He would have an enormous amount of strength with that build of his. His stamina and speed were unclear until he actually started playing, the same goes with his reaction, timing and accuracy of shooting. Hayama picked up a basketball and tossed it to Ari who spun it on her finger.

"What are we playing?" Ari said aloud.

"It's just one-on-one, get started." Coach Shirogane cut across her words. Ari shrugged and threw the ball to Nebuya, "You can start."

The onlookers started to whisper. She was being cocky and I seriously wanted to hit her then, underestimating someone never ends well. I just face palmed instead and she caught my look, "Hey, look on the bright side, you'll get more information." Ari said cheerfully. I rolled my eyes. Y_eah sure, because I can't get information while he's on defense, great logic Ari._

I shut my eyes for a moment and I heard the ball bounce once on the court, then once again. Check. My eyes were open now, even from the first bounces of the ball I could tell Nebuya had some serious strength. He drove to to the right and did a quick crossover to the left and went straight for the basket.

Nebuya dunked, but nothing went in. "What?!"

I smiled, that was one of Ari's techniques. She would force you to change direction and then she would stop her defensive play long enough for you to think you can score a basket. As soon as you go for the shot she would steal the ball. This required lots of speed and precise footwork so she usually used it at the start of a game.

Ari had made off with the ball and dribbled to the three-point line as they agreed earlier. Nebuya had already recovered and was standing in front of her with a wide defensive stance. Ari continued to bounce the ball on the three point line, making no other changes to her position. She gave him a big grin and bounced the ball through Nebuya's legs. The muscly player had turned around immediately to run after her and managed to get in front only to be fooled by an impressive fake. The ball hit the backboard and went in.

The score was 2-0, to Ari.

The crowd of players murmured in disbelief. I saw the coach and the regulars shocked faces, well apart from Akashi.

"She's good."

I shrieked causing everyone to look at me. I nearly had a heart attack, I turned to see who had spoken. Standing behind me was a 6 ft tall grey-haired boy. "W-who are you?" I asked shakily. He gave me a blank look and walked away, completely ignoring my question.

"That was Mayuzumi Chihiro, he's a 3rd year regular. Don't worry Mika-chan, he's always like that." Mibuchi had walked over and gave me a reassuring pat on the back. I nodded, I was a little stunned from that encounter, but my attention went back to the game. Nebuya had the ball again and went to dunk.

"Muscle Dunk!"

The basketball smashed through the hoop and hit the ground with tremendous force, nearly hitting an unsuspecting Ari on the head.

"Watch it, you could've hit me! It's a game, not some murder marathon!" Ari loud voice resounded through the gym as she picked up the ball.

"Sorry pipsqueak, didn't know you were that weak." Nebuya replied smugly.

Ari shot him a deadly glare and they resumed their play. She dribbled forward at a high speed then stopped suddenly and changed direction, heading to the center on the three-point line. Nebuya was a fraction of a second too late and the ball went through with a swish. Three points to Ari, the score was now 5-2.

More whispering erupted from the crowd. It may have looked easy to get past Nebuya but I could see the level of concentration Ari was in. She had to time everything perfectly or her opponent would have a chance to steal the ball.

The basketball was returned to Nebuya and they kept going at it. He scored two points and another two after he managed to steal the ball from Ari. In return, Ari countered hid shots and dribbling.

This continued on for a while and neither of them seemed to be winning. After about 10 minutes, the score was 24 all. Coach Shirogane had stopped the game there and beckoned them to come over.

The coach inclined his head in approval, "As expected of a national player. Training is on Monday and Tuesday morning and Thursday afternoon as well as every lunch break."

Ari paled. "How early do I gotta wake up?"

"Be here at 6:30am."

Well, there goes her sleep-in time.

"Also, Mikami, you will come to training as our manager. Same times." The coach said turning to face me.

My turn to pale now. I needed my sleep too! At least I can contribute to the team I suppose, even if it means being near _Akashi._

"The rest of you, clear out. Class starts in five minutes." Coach Shirogane raised his voice and dismissed everyone, "Mikami, Sanders stay behind and I want all the regulars here, now. Mayuzumi that means you too. "

"Fine."

I jumped and just managed to hold down my shriek. It was the grey haired student again. Dear lord, he freaks me out.

"The Winter Cup is starting soon, I expect you all to perform your best." Coach Shirogane began, "I will be away for the next three weeks, so I leave your training menus to Mikami. She will be in charge of them. That is all, you can go now."

"What?!" Apart from Akashi, who remained stoic as usual and Mayuzumi who didn't seem to care, the rest us voiced our thoughts.

"Why?!" I yelled, completely forgetting to be polite. I don't want to have any major role in this, especially if in entrusted with something.

"What the hell, I'm not taking orders from a girl!" Nebuya joined in with the shouting.

I turned and gave him an angry look, "Don't be such a sexist pig!"

He snarled back, "Well I'm not doing it! Especially of you can't even play!"

We got into a mini argument while the others were yelling over the top of us.

"Calm down, don't get violent yet!" Mibuchi panicked slightly at the sight of his furious teammate.

"I'll die if Yuki's in charge! Have you seen her?! She's the devil when it comes to practice!" Ari wailed.

Hayama was the only one with a good question and he had to shout extremely loudly to be heard, "Why are you going away, Coach?!"

The forty or something year old man let out a frustrated sigh, "Business, Hayama, I'm away on business." He answered.

I saw Ari give the coach a weird look and complained, "So what? I don't care what you do, just don't make Yuki do the training! We'll all be six feet under if she gets a word in!"

"Hmph, I'm still not gonna listen to a girl." Nebuya said stubbornly.

Another argument erupted, this time it was between Nebuya, Hayama, Ari and I. We caused a lot of commotion and only stopped when Akashi pulled out his newly sharpened red scissors.

"Quiet."

We all shut up. I don't know how he does it, but every time Akashi speaks it makes you want to listen to what he has to say and agree with it.

Coach Shirogane nodded his head in thanks to Akashi, "No exceptions, Nebuya you will listen to what Mikami tells you to do, as well the rest of you. Akashi, I trust you know how to handle this situation so I leave you in charge." After saying that, the coach picked up his folders and left the gym. Just like that, no other explanations.

He just upped and left. We just stood in utter silence, it didn't last long, of course.

"Well shit, it's Thursday, so training at lunch and after school. I'm gonna get some sleep before Yuki sends me down to hell." Ari commented and yawned for the added effect, "Later guys." She walked out the same way Coach Shirogane did and didn't even bother to get changed.

Mibuchi smiled, seemingly unaffected by what just happened, "We should be going too, class is going to start soon." As if on cue, a shrill bell resounded through the school.

"See you all at lunch." I mumbled and hurriedly grab my things and left. I didn't see Mayuzumi after the coach had left so I assume he already got changed. The other basketball regulars were still inside the gym. I managed to make it down the hallway before I nearly died.

"Akashi Yukiko."

I shrieked. It was Mayuzumi, again. He had stepped out of the shadows. See what I mean, I barely know him and he's this close to giving me a heart attack. He has no presence whatsoever, I bet Halloween is his favorite holiday. Wait, what did he just call me?

"Akashi Yukiko," he repeated and I realized I had voiced my thoughts, "That's what your name will be soon, won't it?"

Oh, the marriage.

I stayed silent, not knowing how to respond.

"You should be careful, Rakuzan has many students with powerful families. I suggest you keep this arrangement to yourself or you'll find yourself in a bit of trouble. Not everyone will like the fact you're about to make off with the Red Emperor. " Mayuzumi said quietly. It sounded like he was giving me advice and warning me. What was more chilling was the fact it sounded like he meant people here would murder me if they knew about the 'arrangement'. Hang on a second, who was the Red Emperor? Was that Akashi? Who knew people here would gave him that title, or nickname. I opened my mouth to ask for him to elaborate but I was cut off.

"Enough Chihiro. Leave her, she doesn't need to know."

"A-Akashi-kun!" I said in surprise.

It was just one thing after another. First Mayuzumi nearly gave me a heart attack and now Akashi's making me feel so nervous I feel like I'm going to black out.

Mayuzumi frowned, "You should tell her anyways." he said and walked away, blending in with the surroundings.

"Akashi-kun, what are you doing here?" I asked nervously.

"I'm in your class."

Well that makes me feel like an idiot now. Akashi started walking and I realized he had changed back into his formal uniform. His crimson hair swished slightly as he walked and I found myself rooted to the spot just. staring.

"You'd better hurry, or we'll be late." His rich voice echoed in the hallways. I still hadn't moved, I don't know why but I felt that I couldn't. I kept staring.

Akashi stopped as he reached the end of the corridor and titled his head slightly to look at me, "Are you coming or not?"

I blushed madly. I found my legs and quickly ran to catch up with him. He escorted me to the classroom and pulled the door open for me. I mumbled a thank you and hurriedly sat down in my seat. I heard the handsome basketball player explain why we weren't on time and I saw him sit down gracefully as if he owned this place. I wondered what it would be like if we did get married, would it be that bad or would I eventually fall in love with him. I jerked myself awake from my insane daydreaming.

Oh no, this wasn't good. I think, I think I might have a tiny, little, microscopic crush on Akashi Seijuro.

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**A/N:** Yay, chapter 7 is done! Please stay tuned, I will continue the update will just be a little more spaced apart. Review please, it means the world to me.


	8. Chapter 8

•3rd Person POV•

Apart from the hellish training Mikami had put Rakuzan's basketball team through that afternoon, the rest of the day passed without incident although both Hayama and Ari had to go to the infirmary because of it. The short, auburn haired girl had a completely different personality when she had a whistle and a clipboard. Nebuya and Mibuchi had collapsed in exhaustion when it was over and were drinking all the water they could find. The only ones seemingly unaffected were the usual stoic duo, Akashi and Mayuzumi. They both were out of breath but nothing like the others.

Soon, a week had passed and then another. It was time for the Winter Cup.

By then, Mikami's training wasn't so bad anymore, they had all gotten used to it and her alternate ego although it was till quite frightening.

"What are you doing?!"

Hayama cringed at the loud voice of his manager. "T-taking a b-break?" He responded fearfully, it sounded more like a question.

"Start running!" Mikami shrieked and pointed at the other end of the court.

"Y-yes ma'am." Hayama stuttered before he began running, Mikami's loud words following him every step of the way.

Nebuya, Mibuchi and Ari were hiding behind the bench, not that it helped much, attempting to rest before another round of intensive practice.

"Damn that Mayuzumi. That bastard has his stupid misdirection, he doesn't have to hide, she never notices him!" Nebuya whined from his spot.

Mibuchi spared his teammate a glance, "He's just lucky." The shooting guard mumbled, clearly exhausted.

Ari, who was practically dead had managed a sentence, "Poor Hayama, even though this means we get a break but still, the guy's gonna faint soon, look at him!"

"Can't, takes too much work." The other two replied.

Rakuzan's basketball team had welcomed Ari with open arms, recognising her skill and accepting her as a regular. Nebuya had sulked a little after being tied in score with a girl but he soon got over it. The regulars had bonded well during their military-type training exercises. Mayuzumi even said more than a sentence or two.

"Oi, fly, pass the water." Nebuya said without moving his head. The center had taken to calling Ari that for some odd reason although he did tell Hayama it was because she was just as annoying as an actual fly. Mibuchi and Hayama decided to call her 'imouto-chan' while Akashi calls her by her first name, Arianna.

Being too tired to argue, the green-eyed girl kicked the the bottle on the ground towards him. Nebuya mumbled a 'thanks' but before he could even taste a drop of the refreshing liquid it was snatched out of his hands. The muscly player twisted around to have a go at whoever denied him his drink.

"What the hell you bastard!" He stopped short just as a clipboard rammed into his face.

"What was that? You wanted to do more training?" Mikami was standing over them with a devilish grin, "That's perfect! I'll triple your training menus, starting now. Get to it." The last three words dropped into a menacing tone and the three players scrambled off in fear. It would be quite some time before any of them would stop being afraid of Mikami during practice. A long, long time.

* * *

The Winter Cup was starting in two days. Coach Shirogane had returned a week before it, from his 'business' trip. Mikami was fretting about at lunch in the cafeteria, collecting data and analysing the other team. Rakuzan's first match was against Kiroii High. They were a well known team that had done well against many other schools. Mikami has already been told about the Inter High results and the special bracket for the schools with one of the 'Generation of Miracles' in it. She was also informed of the players in the Teiko team.

"Hey, watcha doing?" Ari peered over her friend's shoulder while munching on a burger.

"Isn't it obvious?" Mikami replied without looking at her best friend.

"Nup, not a clue."

The manager of Rakuzan's basketball team sighed, "I'm just researching some stuff and writing down some pointers." She said as she pushed the notes to a side and flipped through a basketball magazine.

A distinct tearing sound was heard, "Oh you mean these notes? Whoops sorry, I thought it was trash."

Ari and Mikami looked up. Sayaka Fujimoto stood in front of them, the paper Mikami was writing on was torn and scrunched up in her perfectly manicured hands. Behind her were two other girls who were sniggering to themselves.

Sayaka flipped her black hair and sneered at them, "Stay away from Akashi-kun, or else."

This honestly could not get anymore cliché.

"Kinda hard to 'stay away' from him, I'm on his team and so is Mikami." Ari responded bluntly.

"Ugh! Just keep your disgusting and dirty hands off him!" Sayaka screamed and reached out to slap Ari. Bad idea. Sayaka's arm was grabbed by the green-eyed girl and promptly twisted. Ari took an exaggerated bite out of her sandwich, "Keep your disgusting dirty hands off my sandwich."She countered.

The black-haired girl screamed from Ari's painful arm twist. Considering the fact they were in the middle of lunch at the cafeteria, needless to say, a scream of pain attracted a lot of attention.

"Hey, hey, break it up you two." A guy had come up and was trying to coax them out of the situation. Another girl had gently pulled Ari's hand away from Sayaka, "You'll be in big trouble if the student council see this..." The girl who intervened said quietly.

"She started it..." Ari mumbled childishly. Sayaka was now massaging her arm as if it were broken. Her 'friends' had run off by now and the girl was standing there alone, without her supporters. She started to cry, full on cry. There was enough water from her tears to get them through a drought. Sayaka buried her face in her hands and ran off towards the bathrooms, still sobbing.

The rest if the cafeteria was left in an awkward silence. Sayaka was on the student council herself and had quite a bit of influence and popularity, not to mention her father was a multimillionaire. Of course, Ari didn't give damn.

"Um, excuse me, Sanders-san?" The girl who intervened earlier talked to Ari, "I'm Rani Sayuni, nice to meet you."

"Yo, call me Ari."

Rani smiled shyly, "Okay then Ari-san. Um, Sayaka-san is the daughter of a politician. I don't mean to be rude, but, um, I think you should be careful around her. Sayaka-san gets jealous a lot." She started shakily.

Mikami frowned, Rani looked like she was about to faint from nervousness, the girl's knees were shaking. "Rani-chan? Are you alright?"

Rani jumped, "Ah, Mikami-san, yes I'm fine." She was still shaking slightly. Mikami wondered if it was because of Ari and her status as a basketball regular. Apparently, Ari was thinking the same thing.

"Er, you know, you don't have to be so nervous around me." The green-eyed basketball player said smiling. "We are classmates after all."

Rani seemed to cheer up, "You know who I am?"

"Yeah, of course I do. You sit right next to me." Ari grinned. "Say, you don't happen to know why that Sayaka chick was so jealous, do you?"

"Oh, um, I actually do know, everyone knows." Rani said quietly. "Did you not hear? Sayaka-san is jealous of you and Mikami-san."

"Why?" Mikami asked, suddenly very interested.

"Because Ari-san and Mikami-san get to talk with Akashi-kun and the other regulars." Rani said, barely whispering. It was as if she was afraid to tell them.

Ari raised an eyebrow, "You're kidding right? None of us can get a word in with Yuki's devil training and we're nearly dead when we walk outta that place!"

A few heads turned to stare at Mikami questioningly and said girl blushed. Rani giggled, her thin arms came up to her mouth to suppress it. Rani was quite short for her age, standing at around 4ft 9". She was quiet and a little bit antisocial. She was like a little child, a small, sweet girl.

"Isn't she on the student council to? She and Akashi can talk about stuff there can't they?" Ari asked after Rani had managed to stop giggling.

"Um, well yes, I suppose but Sayaka-san wants to be Akashi-kun's girlfriend and she can't flirt with him at the student council meetings." Rani replied.

At this Ari snorted, "Wow, really, I can't believe she likes him even a little. That guy's a violent, hetereochromic red-haired, scissor throwing bas-" She was cut off by loud yelling.

"Imouto-chan! Mika-chan!"

Once again the cafeteria's attention was turned. Mibuchi walked into the eating area, still in his training uniform with a basketball tucked under his arm. The regulars of the basketball team rarely, if never came to the cafeteria. Quite a few girls started to drool and whisper. Mibuchi frowned and looked around, "Hm, where are they?..." he talked quietly to himself.

"Mibuchi!" Ari sang and waved at him to get his attention. The tall shooting guard titled his head and turned towards the sound of her voice. He waved back as soon as he saw then and walked over.

"Imouto-chan, you're supposed to be at training." Mibuchi said scoldingly, "Sei-chan won't be happy."

Ari gave him a blank look, "Huh? We had training today?"

Mibuchi nodded vigorously, "We have it every lunch."

"Wait, then why aren't you going Yuki?" Ari turned to look at her friend.

"I'm the assistant manager, not a regular." Mikami said and then gave Ari a faint smile, "You'd better hurry or Akashi-kun will murder you."

The green-eyed girl turned sheet white. She dashed off, tossing her sandwich in a bin and pushing past a bunch of students, ignoring the cries of protest. Mibuchi and Mikami watched her as she ran.

"Training's already finished." Mibuchi said to no one in particular.

As if on cue, a shrill bell rang out, signalling the end of lunch.

"Um, are you Mibuchi Reo-kun?"

The basketball player whirled around and nearly hit the owner of the voice. Rani yelped and covered her head with her hands in reflex.

"Oops, sorry, I didn't hit you did I?" Mibuchi offered the small girl a smile. Rani put her arms down slowly, "N-no, Mibuchi-kun..."

"What's your name?" Mibuchi asked politely.

"Um, Rani Sayuni." The poor girl was shaking again. Mikami stood up and put her hands on Rani's shoulders reassuringly, "Don't worry, Rani-chan. Reo-nee means well."

Rani nodded, "Um, I have to get to class, nice to meet you Mibuchi-kun." She said and quickly disappeared into the crowd of students.

"Aw, what a nice friend you have there, " Mibuchi gave the assistant manager a smile, "I better get going too, see you later Mika-chan!"

Mikami waved goodbye and quickly gathered her things. Almost everyone had gone to their next class now and the hallways were empty. The auburn haired girl quickly made her way to her next class before she was late. Fortunately her teacher had decided to read the time on his watch incorrectly and ended coming later then her.

The lesson began as if nothing happened.

Mikami glanced around, there was an upcoming history assignment that required to work in pairs. She wasn't as isolated as before, working closely with Rakuzan's esteemed basketball team had boosted her popularity, but she didn't really have friends. All the people who approached her just wanted to get close with one of the regulars.

"I will be deciding the pairs for this assignment." The grey haired teacher said to the class. Mikami felt relief was through her.

The teacher proceeded to call out the pairs. Mikami was purely focused on who she would be partnered with and so she barely heard any of the other. "...Tekito and Fuguri, Shinae and Hitomi, Akashi and Mikami..."

Mikami's eyes widened in shock and her blood ran cold. This has got to be the worst coincidence ever.

* * *

• Mikami Yukiko •

I walked home alone today. Ari had to stay behind at school and clean up with the janitors. That was Akashi's punishment for missing out on practice.

The sky was cloudy and it looked as if it were about to rain. I made my way home as quickly as possible, I didn't want to get drenched in the middle of winter.

My history assignment with Akashi was due in a month and the Winter Cup began on Monday. I wasn't so sure how I could balance both, especially if I had to work with him.

I walked up the stairs and down the corridor towards the flat. As I pulled my keys out, I realised the door was already unlocked. A robbery attempt?

Slowly, I pushed the door open.

"Well, look who decided to show up. If it isn't little Miss Dust Mite."

Of all the things to greet me when I get home. I forgot they were coming. My step-mother, Natasha with her long black hair and designer clothing was staying with me and Ari. Not just her, Natasha's daughter, my step-sister, was also here, Chelsea. She was wearing a midriff green top and bright red stilettos. Her blonde hair was put up in a tight bun.

I grimaced slightly, "Hey, Chelsea, Natasha." I spoke in English instead of Japanese, they didn't know Japanese.

Natasha raised a manicured finger and pointed to the kitchen, "What are you waiting for, start cooking dinner."

It was pointless to argue, I've tried before, Father never believes me though. I dropped my bag next to the couch and walked to the kitchen. I brought my phone with me for company and plugged my earphones in. Ari would get home in about an hour I guess. I could live with those two by myself for an hour. I think.

My phone rang halfway through the dinner I made. Natasha looked at me accusingly but said nothing. I took this as an opportunity and reached for my phone. Chelsea got to it first and picked it up.

"Hello, who is this?" She said sweetly, it sickened me.

"_...What the hell? Chelsea?! Give Yuki back her phone you plastic doll!"_

I heard Ari's voice through the speaker. She replied in English and I suppressed a laugh at Chelsea's horrified expression.

"Why you little bit-" Chelsea started only to be cut off by her mother, "Chelsea! Watch your language! I taught you better."

_"No way! That old hag is there too! Akashi! I'm leaving!"_

Ari's voice cut off as she hung up. I looked at Natasha, she didn't seem to pleased about being called an 'old hag'. Chelsea threw my phone at me and left the dinner table to go to her room, clearly upset about being told off.

Our flat had four rooms, pretty big isn't it? Ari's older brother, Daniel helped pay for it, he works as a film director. My step's had already unpacked and everything, I wondered if they hired someone to do it for them. They had money, so why not?

Natasha stood up as well and piled the dishes on top of each other before leaving to go to her room as well. I liked Natasha better than I liked Chelsea, well I never really liked Chelsea. Natasha actually helped me with things, like doing the dishes, making breakfast on occasion and grocery shopping. She was supposed to, she is my step mother after all. Chelsea didn't do anything to help, she just sat on her bed and ordered everyone around.

I gathered the dishes, put them in the sink and started to rinse them before loading the dishwasher. I glanced at the wall clock to my left. It read 4:45 in the afternoon. The flat was now silent, too silent. It made me want to break one of the dishes just so the place wouldn't seem so empty. Instead I plugged in my earphones again and started the dishwasher. I didn't hear the sound of the door opening but I did hear Ari's loud voice over the top of my music.

"Yuki, you here?"

Once again it was in English, we normally spoke English at home anyways. I walked out of the kitchen. Ari was standing in the doorway with a massive smile on her face, it was slightly creepy. She held a decorated take away box in front of her. "By the way, Akashi said he'd let me off toilet cleaning duty if I brought him over, so yeah..."

I understood what she meant when Akashi stepped through the doorway himself. The take away must have been a bribe, to think Akashi would go as low as to trick Ari with food.

"Yukiko, I heard Arianna say something about your step mother and step sister. They are here, I presume?" It was more of a statement than a question, Akashi already knew the answer. Even so I nodded, "Would you like to meet them?"

Being around Akashi wasn't as nerve-wracking as it used to be, it was almost normal, almost.

"Yes, I'd like that." He replied smoothly and sat himself at the dinner table. Akashi was wearing the same thing he wore when I first saw him. A dark grey business suit with a red tie. It suited him.

"Hey, granny, stop knitting and get out. You too Miss I'm-A-Spoilt-Plastic-Doll." This was accompanied by obnoxious knocking, typical Ari.

"Arianna, what have I said about you're loud voice and vulgar language?" Akashi's red scissors were being skilfully twirled by his fingers. He looked downright dangerous. Ari walked towards the table and gave a little shrug, "Don't yell and stop swearing?"

Akashi's hetereochromic eyes glinted in the light, "Must I teach you another lesson, or do you understand?"

Ari gulped visibly, I get why. Akashi's lessons usually involved being chased and getting scissors thrown at your head.

"No need captain, I totally understand." Ari muttered and chomped down on her food.

The door to one of the rooms was abruptly slammed open and the sound echoed throughout the flat.

"What was that for! You ruined my makeup! You'll pay for that you ungrateful bitch!" Chelsea had just come out of her bedroom and started screaming at Ari. Natasha came out a second later, neither noticed Akashi sitting at the dinner table.

It became a 3 way argument. Ari was mad at the other two while Chelsea was mad at Ari for ruining her makeup and Natasha was mad at Ari for calling her old as well as Chelsea for her language.

I turned back to Akashi, "Do you want something to eat or drink? This could take a while."

His eyes locked with mine, "Water will be fine."

I left to fetch the water and came back to utter silence.

"Who are you?" Natasha asked quietly.

Akashi stood up and fixed his jacket, "Natasha Anderson, I presume. I am Seijuro Akashi."

He greeted her in English, perfect, flawless English. I never even thought about Akashi knowing English, up until then, he had said everything in Japanese. Not to mention he followed America's name system, first name and then last name.

Natasha stepped back in surprise. "Y-you're, you're the one who's getting married to Yuki!"

Chelsea, who was pointing her hairbrush at Ari caught on as well, "What! There's no way someone like you would go anywhere near someone as ugly as Yuki!"

I flinched, that stung a bit.

Ari hissed, "I swear, every screeching word that comes put of your stupid mouth makes me want to break your neck!" I moved to restrain her in case she actually did decide to go slap Chelsea.

Akashi turned his attention towards her, "Chelsea Anderson, it seems you suffer the same problems as Arianna." He ignored Ari's protest and continued, "I don't find Yukiko unattractive at all."

What? Did he just say that?

My thoughts mirrored Chelsea's expression.

"In fact," I felt Akashi's arms wrap around my waist, "I find her absolutely, perfect." With that, he crushed his lips against mine.


	9. Chapter 9

**• Akashi Seijuro •**

I left as soon as I had kissed her. It was fairly reasonable. They would start to ask questions, he would start to ask questions. 'He' being my father. I wasn't supposed to actually fall in love with her, this was strictly business.

_Was._

Everything she did intrigued me, especially her attitude towards this 'arrangement'. It was as if she didn't care, except, I knew she cared. She didn't want to get married to save her father's business, but she agreed to it without complaint. No, I doubt I would have feelings for her, it was just oddly, _submissive,_ and confusing.

It gave me a headache.

"Seijuro, dinner is ready."

I nodded briefly to acknowledge Emilia, my personal maid. She was an overseas graduate and an exceptional chef. A trusty companion as well.

I glanced at the shogi board to my left. It's beautifully carved wooden pieces were already set up. Perhaps a game of that would ease my headache.

"Seijuro, your father is waiting for you."

_My father... that's interesting..._

"Yes, I'll be there soon."

Emilia bowed and walked off.

* * *

"So, is Yukiko to your liking?"

An abnormal question, my father never asked me for my opinion.

"Yes, she will be fine." I answered back.

My father sat back in his chair. We were both sitting at the polished, marble dinner table. Our meals had already been taken away and the servants had cleared the large room.

"As expected," he replied, sipping the dark red wine, "There is a ball that will be held in one week. Both you and Yukiko must come, the official announcement of your marriage is to be made then. Am I clear?"

I nodded, "Yes father."

"Good. The date of the marriage is also going to be announced. Bring as many friends as you'd like, as long as they don't make a fuss, I have no problems." He drank some more of the red wine before setting it down on the table.

"Is that all?" I asked.

He paused and frowned at me, "Seijuro, I hope you remember that this is for business purposes."

Ah, so he did know what I did yesterday, no real surprise there.

"Yes, I'm well aware of the fact." I answered, my facial expression hadn't changed at all.

I saw my father narrow his eyes slightly, "Good, that is all, Seijuro, you can return to your studies." He said and waved me off.

That was all he really cared about, business, money, reputation and my studies. Not so much as _my_ studies as it was my grades.

I stood and left.

* * *

**• 3rd Person POV •**

"You like him don't you?"

Mikami let out a half-shriek and blushed furiously. She knew exactly who 'him' was.

"N-no! W-hy would you t-think that?!"

Ari rolled her eyes, "Exactly."

"What?" Mikami was now genuinely confused. The green-eyed basketball player's response had made no sense at all.

"You like him, you like him!" Ari sang out in a childish tone. "Any normal person would've slapped him but no, you just stood there and let that hetereochromic bastard kiss you." If possible, the grin in her face got bigger.

Mikami turned bright red again.

"By the way, that put me off my dinner yesterday, so we're eating outside tonight an you're paying!" The basketball player did a little twirl while walking, it was a little scary, seeing said girl was extremely happy. The pair were currently walking home from training, it was a Thursday today and the perfect day for a walk outside, the weather was as nice as it would get during the winter.

"Fine, where should we go to eat?" The auburn haired assistant manager wasted no time.

Ari stopped in her tracks just a few metres ahead if Mikami. The taller girl was gaping like a fish out of water.

"What's wrong?" Mikami asked, poking her friends arm. Ari raised her arm and pointed ahead. Mikami followed the direction she was pointing in and her jaw dropped.

Just ahead of them, where the road turns into a four-way intersection, was two tall men, well boys would probably be better to describe them. Not any random boys, two foreigners, to be even more specific, Ari's older brothers.

"Hey! There they are! Sis, we're over here!" Both boys started waving their hands above their heads. At 5pm in Kyoto, an intersection was usually very busy and the boys loud English words attracted a lot of attention. Mikami giggled at her friend's horrified look and began walking, tugging said girl's arm along.

"Aw, did you miss us?" Ari's brothers had instantly swept their younger sister into a bone crushing hug, yes, both of them.

"Ow! Hey, I need these ribs you know!" Ari yelped, but was ignored anyways.

Daniel was the eldest, at age 24 he had already scored a high-paying job as a film director. He had spiky dark brown hair that was smoothed down with hair gel and clear blue eyes. Mitchell was 21 and also had blue eyes. His hair was much lighter than Daniel's and he was an adventure seeker, doing all the crazy dangerous things to have fun. Both were 6ft 4" and they towered over the two girls.

"Hey Yuki, did you get the email we sent you?" Daniel and Mitchell spoke in unison.

Mikami shook her head and gave the two a smile, they were like her brothers too.

Daniel shrugged, "Oh well, doesn't matter. Let's go to your flat."

"Yes! Come on! I want to see how you two are dealing with Nutty Natasha and Cheap Chelsea." Mitchell cheered and proceeded to walk while tugging his sister's collar, "Let's go sis!"

"What? Wait! No, I haven't eaten anything yet! I'll lose my appetite if I see them!" Ari's protest fell on dead ears as she was almost literally dragged through the streets of Kyoto.

"Wait for us!" Daniel yelled at his siblings and started to run, Mikami followed in suit and they managed to catch up before the other two crossed the road.

* * *

The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Daniel and Mitchell had quite a history with Mikami's step sister and step mother. This mostly included getting yelled at for dropping in at random and pulling a lot of pranks. Not amateur pranks, full on professional ones. It took time and a bit of money but according to the brothers, it was so worth it!

Natasha sniffed and had her nose in the air, "Well, you can't expect us to all fit in here."

Mitchell snorted, "Course not, you guys are supposed to be living in a five-star hotel where you have people you pay to do stuff for you."

"Besides, we're taking sis and Yuki and we're moving out!" Daniel proclaimed loudly.

"What?!" That was from everyone in the room, bar the two brothers.

"Yup, we know a guy who offered to do this for us. His place is massive." Daniel continued, ignoring the questioning looks, "Hurry up and stuff your things into some bags, I don't want to breathe the same air as those two."

"Aye, aye captain." Ari said and ran to shove everything she owned into a bag.

Mikami on the other hand was a bit more wary, not that she didn't trust Mitchell and Daniel, but it was so, sudden. "Are you sure? Who's the 'guy' anyways?"

Mitchell grinned and tapped his nose, "It's a secret." He sang gleefully.

The auburn haired girl smiled and went to pack as well, albeit much more neater than Ari.

"I'm also not gonna help you guys pay the rent." Daniel said to the Natasha giving them a innocent smile.

Chelsea and Natasha stood in shocked silence, they were upset they didn't have people they could order around, and because in theory, they were getting kicked out of the flat, especially Chelsea who had a little hissy fit. She turned to stalk off only to trip over Ari and Mikami's bags and face-plant onto the wooden floor. In the process, she his knocked over a milkshake that was on the small table.

A pathetic little shriek could be heard for miles around as the blonde girl started to cry. Her makeup was messed up as well as her hair and expensive clothes. Daniel and Mitchell wasted no time in taking photos while Natasha tried frantically to calm down her hysteric daughter.

That, my friend, was karma. Pure, sweet karma at work.

* * *

**A/N:** I do realize that I have a lot of editing to do so some chapters from earlier May change a little bit. Updates will also be less frequent. Thanks for reading, hope you liked it!


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: My writing is a bit rushed and the sentences kinda stop abruptly in my opinion, this is my first Kuroko no Basuke fanfic so I'm not very good at portraying Akashi so he may seem a little...off. Hope you find my writing tolerable!**

* * *

**• Mikami Yukiko •**

We were in front of Akashi's mansion. Yes, Akashi's. I knew I should of pressed Dan and Mitchell to tell me where we were staying. Akashi himself was standing at the massive double doors, ready to greet us.

"I see you've made it without much trouble, come." He spoke in English. He turned his head and opened the door. It glided open smoothly and not a creak was heard. We stepped in and onto the polished marble floors. An expensive chandelier hung above our heads from a high ceiling and a grand staircase was directly in front of us. We followed Akashi onto the second floor which was covered in red carpet and beautifully carved lights were attached to the walls.

It was awkward, being in the same room as him. I still hadn't forgotten that kiss he have me. Sure it was short, but it felt so, right, and now that I think it over, it sounds so sappy. Living under the same roof as the most feared/popular/handsome person I've ever known was going to be more than just your average awkward.

"Oi, Dan, why the hell are we at the captain's place?" Ari whisper-yelled into her brother's ear.

"This is where we're staying." He said in an obvious tone, "Have you gotten stupider sis?"

Ari glared at her brother and lifted her hand to punch him when Mitchell intervened, he threw an arm around his sister, "Me and sis are gonna go outside and get some air!" He announced and pulled her away, "Sis, you should consider those anger management lessons again."

She twitched, "Nope, never again. Oi, captain, where's the kitchen?" Ari called out.

Akashi glanced at her, "Downstairs, to the left. Help yourselves."

"Sure thing!" She said, a grin spreading over her face, "Hey Mitchy, come on!"

"Mitchy? What the hell? It's Mitchell!" He exclaimed but followed Ari downstairs anyways. For the entire time we had been in Akashi's mansion, none of us said anything in Japanese, I thought it would be a bit awkward but it didn't feel out of place...much.

Akashi continued to walk and stopped when we reached the end of the long corridor. He pushed open the wooden door, "Father, they're here."

* * *

**• 3rd person POV •**

"Why didn't you let me punch Dan? I wanted to hit him, it's been so long since I did that!" Ari's words were muffled from the bread she stuffed in her face.

"Cause you would have caused a scene in front of the person who said we could stay here for _free._" Mitchell replied, emphasising the last word while popping some grapes into his mouth.

The two siblings were literally raiding the kitchen. The staff there had apparently been told before hand to prepare snacks and small meals to leave in the kitchen. Both the siblings figured it was Akashi's orders and helped themselves like he told them to.

Ari was just prepared to chow down on some noodles when a thought came to her, "Hey, when did you and Dan learn Japanese?"

"Pfft, we've always known." Mitchell replied, switching to Japanese with ease. "Dad said it was good to learn a bunch of languages and stuff so yeah, we learnt 'em. He said to learn Japanese cause it'll be important for our future. I know Greek as well, dunno why I learnt it but, eh, it's pretty awesome. Danny knows French and Chinese as well as Japanese and English, you know, because he's an overachiever."

"Yup, he sure is!" Ari said in an oddly cheerfully voice, "Let's stick to Japanese cause I don't want to explain what I say."

Mitchell snorted, "Classic sis, stupid and lazy."

"Says the 21 year old hobo." She retorted swiftly.

"I am not a hobo! I have a perfectly good flat back at home thank you very much, you lazy-ass straight D student!" Mitchell exclaimed.

"Oh please, I got an A for sports and the history assignment." Ari snapped back.

Her brother raised an eyebrow, "That's cause you used Yuki's notes and made her help!"

"Hey, I still got that sports mark!" Ari protested, "Besides, I'm not the one who nearly blew up the science lab in 8th grade, _Mitchy._"

Mitchell twitched, he didn't like his name being shortened for some odd reason, "You really wanna go there?"

Ari hoisted herself onto the empty space on the kitchen bench right next to about a dozen frozen dishes. "Bring it on!"

* * *

Daniel and Mikami stepped into the large room after Akashi. In the middle of the room was a large table carved from the finest oak. Behind the desk was a massive French window. There were tall bookshelves lining the edges of the room and a large crystal-like light hung over the middle of the room. The floor was carpeted in a dark red velvet material.

"Hello Akashi-san." Daniel greeted the business man sitting at his desk in Japanese. Mikami decided to stay quiet and let Daniel do the talking, in truth, she had no idea why she was in the room in the first place.

"Yes yes," Mr Akashi replied, waving away at the formalities, "You will be staying in the left wing, your rooms have been prepared for you. If you have troubles tell Seijuro. Now go on, I have important matters to deal with."

They were hastily ushered out by a maid who had been standing in the shadows and the doors were shut behind them.

"That was short...Eh, who cares, let's go to our rooms and unpa-" Daniel was cut off by a high-pitched scream followed by a loud crashing sound.

Akashi Seijuro frowned slightly, "The kitchen, it's coming from there." He said and took long strides, leading the other two.

The commotion was indeed coming from the kitchen, and one of the maids who had been sweeping the floors had screamed. The kitchen was a mess, bits of food stuck to the once impeccable marble benches and sauce was splattered on the floor along with bits of what looked like fruit. Boxes of empty glad wrap lay off to the side and on top of the middle bench, Ari and Mitchell were currently having an exaggerated sword fight with the glad wrap rolls.

Mikami's eyes widened and buried her face in her hands, of all the things those two could've done. Daniel's reaction was much more expressive as his jaw dropped down to the floor along with his Nike sports bag he was holding. Akashi, on the other hand, took a calmer demeanor and brandished his scissors, snipping them a few times in front of his face as if inspecting it. Mitchell didn't notice a thing, but Ari, well aware of what her captain's scissors were capable of immediately stopped when she heard the snipping sound.

"Woah, sis you look seriously pale!" Mitchell grinned, "Almost like a vampire."

Ari have her brother an overly fake smile, "Yeah well, I'm gonna lose a lot of blood soon...The captain's got his scissors..." She trailed off and edged slightly behind her brother who looked at her weirdly before noticing the audience at the kitchen entrance. Daniel had now rolled the sleeves of his hoodie up past his elbows and cracked his knuckles, giving his siblings a very sadistic smile. Mikami herself took a step back slowly, knowing full well what would happen when Daniel snapped. She glanced at Akashi to see his reaction. He had stopped his menacing act and was looking at the siblings in something akin to amusement.

"I will skin you alive, roll you in salt, chop you up and fry you before feeding you through a shredder! Except the head, so you can watch the whole process!" Daniel growled, he was twitching violently.

Mikami gently nudged Daniel's arm in an attempt to calm him down, "Just make them clean it up..."

Daniel frowned, "I like my execution method better." He replied.

Ari and Mitchell had jumped off the bench and onto the floor and began edging away from their now nearly-insane older brother.

"Shit, run!" Mitchell yelled and the two younger siblings ran in the opposite direction, almost slipping on the sauce they had spilled on the tiles earlier.

Daniel sprinted forward and vaulted over the bench, being a part-time stunt double did help with his chase.

"What the hell?! Is that a knife?!" Ari ducked under one of the benches and crawled through to the other side while Daniel pursued Mitchell. The brothers ran out into the large hall and were weaving through the pillars supporting the second level. The sauce stains on the red carpet were very visible now and all Mikami could think of was how they could get it out.

"So damn close!" Ari exclaimed as she straightened herself up from her hiding place. Akashi gave her a piercing look, "Start cleaning." He stated bluntly tossed her a cloth. Ari sweat dropped as she glanced at mess.

"Don't worry, I'll help you." Mikami said and she took another cloth from the same cupboard Akashi had opened.

"No, you'll go to your room, she needs to complete her punishment." Akashi said coldly and walked out of the kitchen, skilfully avoiding the stains, "Come."

"I'll stay and help..." Mikami trailed off when Akashi looked at her. It was as if she was being examined in a lab.

"Are you disobeying me?" He asked quietly, as if daring her to say yes.

"I'm not!" Mikami said hastily, "I just want to help."

He turned back and walked towards Mikami, stopping just in front of her. Almost gently he grabbed her chin and tilted it up to look into her eyes. The smaller girl's eyes visibly widened and her cheeks darkened slightly, "Akashi-kun, what are you-"

"My orders are absolute."


	11. Chapter 11

**• Akashi Seijuro •**

I saw the death glare come my way. As expected, although I wasn't really doing anything wrong. Arianna didn't seem to think so and a saucepan was thrown at my face. She missed of course.

"I would expect you to replace everything you've just broken." I said to her and she paled instantly. "Yukiko, come." I commanded and started walking.

Yukiko had her head in her hands at the time and I'm quite sure she was blushing. She followed me upstairs though so I had no qualms of her current situation. I spotted stains on the carpet and made a mental reminder to either make Arianna clean it as punishment, or to purchase a brand new one. It didn't really matter.

"Seijuro, your father said he was leaving on a business trip. He said he will be back in time for the ball." Emilia said, appearing at the top of the steps.

"Understood," I replied without looking at her, "Also, go down to the main kitchen and help clean up."

I saw her bow and walk downstairs then turned my attention to Yukiko. She seemed to recover from her previous state and was looking at me questioningly.

"Your rooms are here." I said gesturing to the doors near the end of the hallway, "Before you unpack though..." I guides her into my room and pulled out the shogi board, setting it on the table.

"Play with me."

* * *

• Mikami Yukiko •

_Play with him?! What?!_

I managed that part to myself though. "Akashi-ku-"

He cut me off, "Seijuro." He said.

"Um, what do you mean...?" I asked uncertainly. His hetereochromic eyes locked with mine, "Call me Seijuro."

"Umm, alright then, Aka- Seijuro-kun?" I asked, not wanting to seem stupid. He nodded and gestured for me to sit opposite him.

"Play." He commanded and sat down as well, intertwining his fingers and resting his perfect head on them.

"I-I don't know how to play..." I trailed off, I must look pretty dumb to him right now.

"It doesn't matter, play." He replied and I could only stare at the pieces on the board, "I'll teach you then, Yukiko."

A shiver went down my spine and I nodded slightly, "O-Okay then, S-Seijuro-kun."

I saw a small smirk on his lips as he started to move the pieces on the board. Dammit, I have to say, even if I don't particularly want to get married, his smirk is pretty damn sexy.

* * *

• 3rd Person POV •

"Oh. My. God." Ari was currently staring at a spotless kitchen. "How did you do that?! Freakin' amazing!"

"Thank you, Sanders-sama." Emilia bowed formally.

"Call me Ari, anyways, what's your name?" The basketball player was looking at the maid with respect of the highest order.

"Very well then, Ari-sama. My name is Emilia, I am Seijuro's personal maid and assistant." Emilia said, bowing once more, her black hair moving gracefully as she did, "Please excuse me, I have to clean the carpets." She said emotionlessly and slipped out of the kitchen.

Ari let out a low whistle as she looked at the impeccably clean kitchen, "Amazing~" She sang and helped herself to the food again. She sat against the cupboards and started eating the ramen she found and humming a random tune.

"Hah, sis, I need water!" Mitchell stumbled in and sank to the floor next to his sister and attempted to eat some of her noodles.

"Get your own ramen!" Ari snapped at him and held her ramen protectively.

"I don't care! Where's the water?" Mitchell sat back and let his arms flop down. He was huffing from all the running he had to do.

"There's ice in the fridge I think, waters in the table." Ari mumbled between bites. Mitchell looked up and spotted the water. He reached up towards the bench and snatched the water jug before pouring it into his mouth. Half the liquid spilled onto his clothes and the floor but he seemed satisfied with the small amount that actually went into his mouth.

"Ahh," He sighed, "So much better now! Hey, when did this place get so clean?!" Mitchell stared around in shock.

"Emilia cleaned up, you should of seen her! She was so pro!" Ari answered and put down her ramen to check her watch. "Where's Dan?"

"Dunno, probably outside stalking some hot blonde babes in bikini's..." Mitchell trailed off, clearly imagining it.

"You sicko!" Ari yelled and used her foot to kick her brother in the ribs, "It's winter here too you know!"

"Ow! Damn, where did you learn to kick that hard?!" Her brother grabbed his side and gave his sister a hurt look.

Ari looked at him weirdly, "I play soccer*." She said deadpanned. Mitchell nodded, "Yeah I know, I'm the one who made you join the club."

"You sound really stupid now."

Mitchell snorted, "That's rich coming from you."

"What are you implying." Ari ground out viciously.

"Oh you know_ exactly_ what I'm implying." Her older brother responded playfully.

"If you're gonna fight again, do it outside of the Akashi mansion!" Daniel stood with his arms folded above the two siblings, "Seriously guys, we're not filthy rich, we can't afford to pay for everything you guys break." He mumbled tapping his foot.

"Pfft, we weren't gonna fight, right sis?" Mitchell poked his sister and gave Daniel an obviously forced look of joy.

"Yeah, what Mitchy said." Ari responded and stood up quickly before throwing an arm around her brother's neck, "But you know, stalking girls isn't very nice either."

"What?! Since when?!" Daniel cried out. Mitchell stood up too and copied his brother's stance; arms folded and a slight frown in his face. "Since we got here I reckon, and more specifically, blonde babes with big boobs in bikini's." He said with a straight face.

"That's just what you like sicko!" Both Ari and Daniel smacked their brother upside the head.

"Hey, a guy can dream." Mitchell responded with a sheepish grin as he rubbed his head.

He received two glares, if only looks could kill.

* * *

It was very late at night now. Ari and Mitchell were the first to sleep in their new beds, well actually, Ari was, Mitchell didn't make it to the bed and passed out next to the door with a blanket. Daniel slept a little after them and that left Mikami and Seijuro. All the other servants and such had also rested.

The soon-to-be-married couple were still playing shogi. Mikami was absorbed into the game, Seijuro had successfully taught her the basics and she had developed formidable strategies from that point. However, she hadn't been able to beat the crimson-haired perfectionist once.

"Seijuro-kun?" Mikami asked quietly, almost afraid to disturb his thoughtful silence.

"Yes?"

Mikami took a deep breath, "Could we go to sleep soon? I mean, we have school tomorrow right and we also have to do that assignment..."

His captivating gaze was set it's sights on Mikami, "Of course, you know where your room is then. I'll see you tomorrow." He said nonchalantly. Mikami nodded and stood to walk out of Seijuro's room. As she turned to shut the door behind her she glimpsed his figure sitting there, now alone, and playing shogi. It felt eerily haunting so she quickly made her way to the room he had shown her earlier.

All their rooms were close together. Daniel and Mitchell had rooms opposite Ari and Mikami while Seijuro's room was at the very end of the hallway. Mikami stepped into the bathroom and took a long overdue shower, singing quietly to herself. As she dried herself and got dressed, she caught her reflection in the mirror and frowned slightly. She did a slow spin and looked back at the mirror.

_Am I perfect? For him at least, I want to be perfect, or was he lying?_

She hadn't realised yet, but, like countless others, she too, was falling for the red emperor.

* * *

**A/N: *I don't exactly know if I should change it to football or not. I'm actually not sure what the difference is...I come from Australia so that's how we call it but if it annoys you, please tell me, I can change it anytime.**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	12. Chapter 12

**New Update! Just to make sure there isn't any confusion, Akashi's father will be referred to as 'Mr Akashi' and his son is just going to be named Akashi (or Seijuro, depends).**

* * *

Mornings in the Akashi household are relatively uneventful, that is, before the mansion received four new guests. Now, a certain hetereochromic young man had to restrain himself from throwing kitchen utensils at his 'guests'.

"Ari, do you have to steal everything that's on my plate?" Mikami hadn't been able to eat anything yet. She was probably the most tolerable out of the four.

"Hey, if Mitchy stops eating my pancakes," Ari glared at her brother who was looking at her innocently, "Then I'll stop eating your food!" She declared.

"What's wrong with the food on the table?" Mikami asked, genuinely curious. Daniel snorted, "I bet she's too lazy."

"How much you betting?" Mitchell asked between mouthfuls of Ari's pancakes.

"Like hell I'm betting with you! I lost like a thousand dollars last year!" Daniel exclaimed.

"More like twenty," Ari quipped, "And it's not cause I'm lazy, I just think that my hand will get cut off by the captain. Look at him!"

All eyes turned towards the young heir. Akashi had intertwined his fingers and rested his forehead on them, his eyes were closed and his head was down. Beside his elbow was a very familiar pair of red scissors.

"I don't get it." Mitchell stated bluntly.

"That's cause you don't know him," Ari retorted, "I reckon he's pretty pissed." Mikami glanced at Akashi and pitied him, it took a while to get used to the Sanders family.

"Let's hurry up and eat, we have school soon too." Mikami said, gesturing to Ari as well, "It's 7:38am, we need to get to school earlier today, there's an exam and Ari and I were going to study."

"Whatever you say. Oh! That reminds me!" Mitchell grinned, "Hey sis, guess what?"

"Nope, I'm leaving." Ari declared and pushed her chair back before grabbing her bag, "Later." She called back and exited the room. They all sweat dropped at her sudden exit, apart from Akashi who still had his head in his hands.

Mikami stood up too, "I'll go too," She began and picked up her school bag as well, "Um, Seijuro-kun? Are you coming?"

Akashi lifted his head at the mention of his name and looked at Mikami for a few moments, "Yes." He replied but didn't move.

"O-okay then, I'll meet you outside..." Mikami hurriedly grabbed her things and skittered out of the dining hall.

"Well shit, this just got a billion times more awkward." Mitchell huffed out, "I'm gonna go too, later Danny and uh, Akashi." He said and left as well.

Daniel did not looked please at being left alone with, as Ari described to him earlier, a hetereochromic, scissor-throwing sadist. Akashi's intense gaze was fixed upon the 26 year old who resisted the urge to squirm. All the servants had been ordered to leave and were probably far away (well considering that this place was a mansion, it would be relatively far away). Fortunately, he only had to sit there for a few minutes because his brother cut through the awkwardness.

"Holy shit! Sis! Gimme a something to throw!" Mitchell came back to the dining area screaming his head off. In reply, Ari, who was just on her way to the table as well, had taken off her shoe and chucked it at his head, "Quit yelling! I'm gonna go deaf!" She screamed back, oh the irony.

"Woah, guys calm down. What happened?" Daniel stood up and placed himself between his two siblings. It turned out to be a bad idea to ask because the two started spitting out their sentences at the same time, getting louder and louder.

"Silence."

Everything went deathly quiet.

Akashi was on his feet and stood in front of the trio of siblings, his voice commanding, "Arianna, explain the ruckus."

She twitched slightly, not liking to explain herself, "I don't actually know, I just wanted to throw my shoe at Mitchy." Ari said flatly, "By the way, I'd like it back." She continued, holding her hand out expectantly. The shoe was slapped into her hand and she quickly put it on.

"Is everything alright?" Mikami's quiet voice floated in the air as she too entered the dining hall.

Mitchell had a funny look on his face, somewhere between outright horror and amusement. "No. It's not alright, I just saw the wicked witch of the west, of course I'm gonna freak out!"

"Stop giving people random nicknames! Not everyone understands!" Ari yelled back and was very close to throttling her own brother. A screaming contest began and Daniel covered his ears and took a few steps back. Out of all of them, he was the least volatile. Mikami winced slightly at the sudden increase in volume. It wasn't that the two siblings hated each other, it's kinda of their way of showing how close they were to each other.

Akashi let out a small sigh of annoyance and massaged his head with one hand. He was going to end up with a migraine after this. "If you two do not stop, I will make sure you do." He said threateningly. The yelling ceased, a little hesitantly though.

"Good, I didn't have to stain the carpet." Akashi said. Mikami shivered as she realised what he was implying. Now, Mitchell, explain." Akashi continued.

"Natasha's here, and so is that blonde bitch." Mitchell replied sourly.

The red scissors were thrust at his face, stopping millimetres in front of the 21 year old's face. Mitchell managed to suppress a girlish shriek and opened his mouth to swear instead, "Fucking hell!" He yelped and took a half step back.

Daniel was about to intervene when Mikami pulled him back sharply, "It's fine, Seijuro-kun won't actually hurt him, I think..." The taller of the pair stared in disbelief._ You think?! Mitch almost got stabbed! _His mind screamed. Daniel composed himself quickly though.

The scissors were thrown at Mitchell after those words passed his lips and he barely had time to dodge. Another string of curses was about to pass by when Ari clamped her brother's mouth shut, "Heh, excuse us, captain. We're gonna go deal with the 'visitors'." She said with an overly fake smile and pulled her light haired brother away from the young heir.

"He gets violent when you swear!" Ari whisper-yelled into her brother's ear as she dragged him away.

"What?! Then why aren't you half dead yet?!" Mitchell returned in the same tone, knowing perfectly well that Ari swore like her life depended on it.

"Uh, duct tape. Lots and lots of duct tape." The mocha haired girl replied in a louder voice and the pair half-managed to walk out of the proximity.

"S-Seijuro-kun, w-was that necessary?" Mikami stuttered, it still scared her when he pulled out those scissors. Akashi stooped to pick up said instrument and looked Mikami in the eye. Daniel marvelled at how she managed to stand her ground.

"Those who disobey me must be punished." He said and moved to follow the path Ari and Mitchell took, "Come, we will be late if you don't hurry."

"Why do you guys have to be here?" Ari and Mitchell whined like four year olds. They were standing just outside the entrance to the mansion.

"None of your business!" Natasha snapped. Chelsea was standing just behind her mother and gave the siblings a sneer that did not suit her prettied up face.

"I believe it is their business." Akashi's rich voice reached the ears if those standing in the doorway. "They are residents here as well."

Natasha frowned at his sudden entrance and let out a little 'humph' of annoyance, "I want to speak to your father." She demanded.

Mikami and Daniel arrived a few moments later and stood back as they watched the scene unfold. Ari slinked back to stand with her best friend and watched as well.

"He's not here." Akashi replied smoothly, "I will excuse your rudeness this once."

Chelsea let out a little snort, "What rudeness? This is what normal people do you know." She retorted, flicking her loose hair back, "Then again, for you to think Yuki looked pretty, you must either be stupid, insane or a complete weirdo."

Akashi's scissors were out in a split second and for a few moments, no one moved. A small 'thump' was heard as a bundle of blonde hair fell onto the doorsteps and the scissors were gracefully pocketed.

"C-Chelsea! Y-you're hair..." Natasha stuttered before rummaging through her handbag for a mirror. The Sanders siblings were pinching and slapping each other to keep from laughing to death and Mikami herself began to giggle.

A scream rose into the quiet morning as the mirror was handed to Chelsea. Her hair had been cut off. Akashi had snipped off the entire fishtail braid and left the blonde girl with a very ugly, and extremely short haircut. She ran down the pebble path screeching and shoved aside the guard at the gate to pass through to the silver BMW parked just outside. Natasha followed and almost tripped while running after her daughter.

"Chelsea, sweetie, mummy will fix it!" She screeched.

The car drove off as soon as Natasha sat down in the car and there was a high pitched squeal as the tires ran across the ground.

"Come back anytime!" Daniel called out cheerfully and waved to their retreating figures and they all burst out laughing.

Akashi frowned at the sudden increase in noise but it was wiped off his face the instant he saw Mikami. She was laughing.

_Beautiful_.

Almost immediately after that thought passed through his mind he threw it away. He couldn't afford to have feelings for her, not now, not ever.

Akashi picked up his bag and walked down the path towards the guard at the gate. They exchanged a few words and a moment later, a sleek black limo pulled up in front of the gate.

He turned his head slightly, "We'll be late soon."

Mikami seemed to get it and gently tugged her best friend down to the limo, leaving the two brothers at the door.

"See ya guys later!" Mitchell and Daniel said in unison and waved before returning to the mansion. Both girls waved back and proceeded to get into the limo.

Ari let out a low whistle as she sat down on the leather seats, "Damn, this is pretty fancy." She mumbled and checked her watch, "7:57am! I'm just go to bed after school!"

"The Winter Cup is starting." Akashi stated bluntly. The mocha haired girl visibly deflated, "Ah, way to ruin the mood captain." She said in a depressing tone.

* * *

The first half of the day passed normally. Lunch had now started.

Ari had already left to go to training, they were supposed to be at the venue in half an hour. Mikami sat alone in a corner of the cafeteria, quickly writing down pointers from her memory about Rakuzan's first opponents; Kiroii High School. From her research, the basketball team was known for being exceptionally good at defending but they were speculated to add in some rough play to turn any odds in their favour.

"Um, Mikami-san?"

She looked up when she heard her name being called, "Rani-chan! What are you doing here?" She asked pleasantly, "I though you had volleyball."

Rani Sayuni was part of the girls volleyball team and was actually a very good player, she excelled at spikes.

"Um, well, our training was ah, cancelled." Rani stated concisely, "Furuka-san wanted to watch Mibuchi-kun play basketball..."

Furuka Nitako was the second-year captain of the girls volleyball team, she also had a massive crush on Mibuchi.

"...Um, would it be okay for us to watch...?" Rani continued shyly and looked down at her feet.

Mikami blinked, it took a few moments for her to clearly register what Rani had just said, "I'm not sure...you'll have to ask Ak-, I mean Seijuro-kun."

Rani looked terrified.

"I can ask for you of you want, but we have to leave very soon so I'm not sure, plus you'll have to skip out on the rest of school..." Mikami said quickly. Rani gave her a little smile, "Furuka-san already got permission to leave school but we have to find our own transport and Kiroii is a bit too far to walk to."

Mikami nodded, "Okay...I think I can ask..." She trailed off, thinking what Akashi would say.

"Thank you!" The shorter girl exclaimed, "We can meet outside near the gates." She said hurriedly and then rushed off.

The auburn haired assistant manager glanced at the clock on the cafeteria wall. They had to leave school grounds in about 10 minutes. She gathered her notes and stuffed them in her bag, she could review them on the bus. Mikami ran to the basketball gym. The team were doing layups and practicing free throws as well as simple stretches. Akashi was talking to Coach Shirogane at the edge of the court.

Mikami tapped his shoulder gently and waited.

"What is it?" Akashi glanced at her. Coach Shirogane had gathered the first string members for a quick meeting.

"I have a friend who wants to watch the match with the rest of her team..." Mikamia trailed off, hoping he would get it. Talking to Akashi had always been a little hard.

"Explain yourself clearly." Akashi said, turning to face her.

Mikami took a deep breath, "Can the volleyball team watch the match with Kiroii High?"

"I don't see why not." He replied and began walking over to the rest of the team, "We leave in 10 minutes, bring them here before we board the bus."

* * *

The usually near-empty bus was now full. Hayama and Nebuya had no problem talking and (in Hayama's case) shamelessly flirting with the volleyball girls. Akashi sat at the back, looking out the window while Captain Furuka was loudly discussing with Mibuchi who smiled politely in return. Mayuzumi was somewhere near the front, as was Coach Shirogane, and Mikami sat next to Ari and Rani in the middle area near all the volleyball players.

"Wow, Nebuya-kun, you're muscles are so big!"

"I love your hair Hayama-kun!"

Rani and Mikami giggled at the expressions on the girls' faces while the two boys gladly accepting the praise and started to brag, "Yeah! We're the best!"

Ari let out a little cough and kicked the back of Hayama's seat, "Yeah right." She muttered earning death glares from the girls.

"Oh shut up! Let us have our fun!" Hayama twisted around and poked small teammate, giving her a wide grin causing some of the volleyball girls to have nosebleeds. Nebuya elbowed Ari from his spot across the aisle, "Yeah, Hayama's got a point, you need to shut up more often."

Mikami winced as Nebuya's elbow came in contact with Ari's ribs. She knew Ari wasn't fragile, far from it, but honestly, if you had a massive-almost-two-metres-tall guy-with-muscles-the-size-of-rock-boulders elbow you, it would hurt.

"Ow! Don't actually _break_ my bones!" Ari hissed and rubbed her now sore side.

"Get more muscles, then you won't feel the pain!" Nebuya announced and let the volleyball girls touch his biceps. Mikami inwardly gagged, it looked so _weird_. She didn't have anything against Nebuya, or the girls, but putting them together was a little creepy.

"Hey, fly, arm wrestle?" Nebuya grinned maliciously, eager to show off his strength.

"You're on!" Ari shot back. Mikami looked around helplessly, they were on a bus for crying out loud, why would you have an arm wrestle on a moving bus!

"Ah, Ari-san, Nebuya-kun...I don't think it's very safe..." Rani trailed off at the fierce looks the two basketball players gave her, it was as if it was a life or death situation. The two ended up using the corner of a seat and were both kneeling on the ground. From an onlooker's perspective, Ari would lose in an instant. Her slim arms looked fragile compared to Nebuya's bulky ones. Then again, an onlooker wouldn't have known that the girl had grown up with two older brothers.

"Ready!" Hayama yelled, he had also joined in the game, "3! 2! 1! Start!"

Unfortunately, they never even managed to begin. The bus took a rather sharp 90 degree turn and this threw the two basketball players off balance causing them to sprawl on the ground, bringing down Hayama as well. They ended up in a heap and the girls rushed around to try and help them up only to be thrown to the floor as well when the bus took another turn before suddenly stopping. In the end, only a few of them were left sitting in their seats. This included Mikami, Rani, a couple girls on the volleyball team as well as the more serious basketball players (Akashi, Mayuzumi and Mibuchi).

At the front of the bus, Coach Shirogane let out an annoyed sigh. For high school students, they were almost _unbearably_ childish.

* * *

**A/N: Ahh...Not much excitement in this chapter but I felt that there needed to be something like this so the story would flow more smoothly. Hope you enjoyed it!**


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